D is for Dolls

Mid-19th-Century China Doll (1)

This doll came from the estate of Mrs. Jackson O. (Ida Downing) Elwell. Features include molded black hair, brown eyes, and a cloth body with leather arms. The undergarments and coat dress are of cotton.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. William R. Curtis, 1946. 1552

Doll’s Dresser (2)

The mahogany dresser has four drawers with an adjustable mirror.

Brick Store Museum Collection. 77.1.280.1

China Doll, c. 1890 (3)

Dressed in a gray Shaker costume with white undergarments, this doll is made of cloth with china limbs. The styling of her heels and legs indicate she was made after 1860.

Brick Store Museum Collection. 794

Bisque Doll (4)

Dressed as a housemaid, this doll bears the marking, “S.F.B.J” for the Societe Francaise de Fabrication de Bebes et Jouets in Paris. The all-composition body is jointed at the shoulders. Making the doll all the more lifelike are the “goggle” eyes.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. Alfred V. S. Olcott, 1950. 2293.8

Miniature Piano (5)

The doll’s piano was made in 1891 by George H. Gale, the grandson of Mary Goodwin.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. Frank Barr, 1955. 3123.1

Japanese Collectors Doll (6)

Mrs. Luther Bodman of Chicago brought this doll back from Japan in 1898. The doll is carrying a child on its back and is dressed in brightly colored silk with delicately molded face, hands and feet.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. Edward W. Bodman. 2562

Chinese Collectors Doll (7)

This doll was purchased in China by a Kennebunk resident in 1912. The body is cloth while the head is made of clay.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. Edward W. Bodman. 2417.2

Composition Doll (8)

“Composition” refers to a variety of wood or paper-based mixtures from which doll heads and limbs were increasingly made from the 1800s onward. The composition process revolutionized the doll-making industry as it allowed for inexpensive mass production by machine. Because the composite materials are biodegradable, however, they are susceptible to humidity and do not react well to the paints and varnishes used in decorating them. As a result, it is rare to find composition dolls in good condition.

This particular doll is wearing a two-piece cotton dress and white undergarments. The black leather boots are sewn onto the cloth body.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Miss Cora B. Roberts. 66.5

Bisque Doll (9)

This doll belonged to Jennie Merrow as a child. It bears the marking of Simon and Halbig, a doll manufacturer in Germany in the late 19th century.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. Fred Nichols, 1962. 4100

Doll’s Carriage, c. 1880 (10)

Bearing a mark that it was patented June 11, 1872, this charming wooden doll’s carriage dates to circa 1880. A curved metal rod supports the red and black leather fringed parasol. The donor purchased it from Kelly’s Antique Shop in about 1939; it had come from a Kennebunk home.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. James McHutchinson, 1949. 2145