A Dutch wooden peg doll
This doll is just 17 cm tall and has a painted face with dark air and pink cheeks. She is wearing a cotton blue and white checked short sleeved dress, a white cotton lace-trimmed apron and a white bonnet. White stockings and brown shoes are painted on the lower parts of the legs and the ends of her arms have been carved to roughly resemble hands.
Her outfit is similar to the ones on national costume dolls, which were sold as souvenirs to tourists. The typical Dutch souvenir doll wore a lace bonnet, an apron and a brightly coloured skirt, often with wooden clogs.
Peg wooden dolls were first made in the late 1700’s. Although they were known as Dutch dolls, they were mainly made in Germany and northern Italy and imported to the UK via the Netherlands. They were made from a single piece of wood using a lathe, and the arms and legs were joined to the body with wooden pegs, which allowed them to move.
They were cheap to produce and very popular in Victorian Britain. It is said that Queen Victoria herself had a large collection of wooden dolls. In time though Dutch dolls were replaced by the new fashion for porcelain dolls as these became cheaper to manufacture.
The doll is on display in the Toys cabinet in the main gallery.