Poppets-Dolls-art - 10/27/19

"Babies and Mawmets and Poppets…and every other name but "Doll"!" by Lady Anja Snihova.

NOTE: See also the files: dolls-msg, dollhouses-msg, Dollhouses-art, Mkng-Med-Toys-art, toys-msg, Toys-in-th-MA-art, Horsey-Toys-art, Chld-Costumes-art.

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NOTICE -

This article was added to this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium, with the permission of the author. 

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,
Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at florilegium.org
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You can find more work by this author on her blogs at:
https://mabscreations.wordpress.com/
https://anjasquest.wordpress.com/
https://housecapuchin2.wordpress.com/

Babies and Mawmets and Poppets
…and every other name but 'Doll'!
by Lady Anja Snihova

Dolls are hard to document. We're absolutely sure that children used them, but extant examples are hard to come by, just like other toys. 



Little people made dolls of pebble and bits of wood, bundles of rags or even a "corncob wrapped in a handkerchief" (as in Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder) Dolls get played hard and loved and destroyed….. That being said, there are a few out there and some in paintings (especially late period, such as this <<<< of Arabella Stuart) and a lot in inventories and descriptions.

Also, "doll" isn't a period term, "poppet" is, and "baby" seems to have been used, as well, and "mawmet", "puppe" and "tocke".
Here's a good basic article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doll

Peg and Stump Dolls – …are found occasionally. Originally carved from bits of branch or kindling, or fired in a solid piece of clay or even metal, the modern equivalent is the "Peg Doll" of the sort starting with the 2nd gallery.

The period inspirations 


German Tocke


Bartholomew Baby (modern recreation in period shape)


Hurstwic (Norse)


A Kreussler doll (clay, german, late period)


A set of Kreussler dolls


Pewter doll late 16th century Bulls Wharf London British Museum 2009 8020 5

Ivory Jointed doll


Egyptian Paddle doll

There's a short article on this page: http://dollmusem.blogspot.com/2012/02/bartholomew-babies-and-17th-century.html

House Capuchin's blog has a nice gallery of the peg dolls that we made here. This section starts about 1/4 of the way down the page: https://housecapuchin.wordpress.com/portfolio/project-dolls/


Peg doll blanks (modern, purchased)


Some of them in process


Families of peg dolls

Tudor/Elizabethan Ladies – These are a variation on the peg dolls, a simple dress-up of some dyed pegs, designed and worked by me.


Trial run


The fabric – one of my Spoonflower designs


hood bases


Veils


Pieces


One lady


from the side


a few more


Some finished ones


Some inspiration.

Rag Dolls/Rag Babies




These *way* predate period and other than kids pretending the rocks or sticks were "babies", probably are the earliest of the dolls.

…and an extant rag doll from the Roman era 1st-5th cent. CE  http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/r/rag_doll.aspx

…and some instructions from a modern recreationist who does *beautiful* ones for largesse all the time! http://www.thepassingstranger.com/Tutorial_Dolls_00.htm



…and another from her newest stuff where she found a link to a Coptic tunic made for a doll. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/444106?img=0



House Capuchin made a bunch of bunnies dressed in heraldic tabards with the populace badges of the Kingdom of An Tir, the Principality of the Summits and the badge of House Capuchin. There is a good write-up here:  https://housecapuchin.wordpress.com/portfolio/bunny-tabards/



And here is my newest page on making my own sets of generic period rag dolls. https://anjasquest.wordpress.com/tasks/toys/my-rag-dolls/

Rag Dolls


Etsy


SunS This is an 8 inch muslin doll


Finished Tunic


Necklace


Necklace


Necklace

Jointed Dolls – Multi-piece toys date back a long way, too. Toys with wheels seem to date right to the first use of the wheel, although that's only a guess. Jointed dolls….well, the examples are from closer in time, but how far back? We don't know. Solid pieces exist like the peg dolls, but were they toys or "religious objects"? We don't really know, but there are examples of both solid and jointed toys that pre-date SCA period.

This is a beautiful jointed doll from the 2nd century CE and made of bone. This is *not* a simpletoy! I have to say I keep thinking it's an antique Barbie doll.  Look at the feet! I found the pic here:  http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/ancient-art-antiquities/a-roman-bone-articulated-doll-circa-late-5673384-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5673384&sid=4947af72-953a-4049-b20c-6c535982cd08

There's a Flicker picture of a similar doll here from Museo Nazionale Romano. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dandiffendale/2235898026/in/set-72157627493918152



…and Peter Crossman's toy picture with a lovely jointed doll. He does a lot of period things from extant examples for museums! http://www.crossmancrafts.co.uk/?s=toy or you can go to his gallery page and scroll down.

A cropped bit of that picture. Very pixelated, but….


…and another design of his, which seems to be made in the shape of a Bartholomew Baby. This is a work in progress as of this fall, so I'm guessing there will be more soon. Also, I made a set of silhouettes of various extant dolls, and the last is another modern version.


Peter Crossman's Babies

Silhouettes for turning your own


Bartholomew Baby (modern recreation in period shape)

An article examining some first century Egyptian dolls – https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bulletinfront/0054307.0015.103/–textile-and-papyrus-figurines-from-karanis?g=bulletin;rgn=main;view=fulltext;xc=1

(more to come)

Page Created 4/22/15 and published 6/2/15 (C)M. Bartlett
Last Update 3/23/18
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Copyright 2015 by MaryAnne Bartlett. <anjasnihova at yahoo.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited.  Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, please place a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

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