Lady Doll, Sanitary Fair
Object Label
Another doll from the Brooklyn Sanitary Fair, this one shows extensive signs of use, most likely as a child’s toy. Little is known about the doll, although its beautifully detailed day-wear outfit, elaborate Victorian hairstyle, and dainty earrings clearly indicate it is intended to represent a grown woman rather than a child or young girl. Displayed along with the Eliza Lefferts doll in an exhibition called Early American Handicraft at the Brooklyn Museum in 1924, this doll was very recently rediscovered in the Museum’s Decorative Arts holdings and is shown here for the first time in eighty-five years.
Caption
Attributed to Alt, Beck, & Gottshalch 1854–1913. Lady Doll, Sanitary Fair, ca. 1864. Bisque porcelain, glaze, tinted glaze, paint, glass, adhesive, undyed cotton, horsehair, vegetable tanned leather, cotton, silk, mother-of-pearl, wool, glazed (?) cotton, 27 1/2 x 17 x 4 1/2 in. (69.9 x 43.2 x 11.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Thomas H. Beardsley, 24.577. Creative Commons-BY
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Manufacturer
Title
Lady Doll, Sanitary Fair
Date
ca. 1864
Medium
Bisque porcelain, glaze, tinted glaze, paint, glass, adhesive, undyed cotton, horsehair, vegetable tanned leather, cotton, silk, mother-of-pearl, wool, glazed (?) cotton
Classification
Dimensions
27 1/2 x 17 x 4 1/2 in. (69.9 x 43.2 x 11.4 cm)
Markings
Typewritten paper label pinned to the inside bottom edge of skirt: "DOLL BOUGHT AT THE SANITARY FAIR, 1864/Gift of Mrs. Thomas H. Beardsley/15139 (handwritten in ink)"; tag handwritten in pencil: "15139" sewn to bottom edge of jacket.
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Thomas H. Beardsley
Accession Number
24.577
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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