Friday 29 December 2017

Queen Victoria's Little Dolls - Part I

As well as seeing the Blackett Baby House in the Museum of London, I was also thrilled to find a selection of Queen Victoria's childhood peg dolls on display there too.

The dolls in the selection we saw and which are shown below are all about 6 inches (15 cm) tall. They are nearly 200 years old!








I think it's well-known that Queen Victoria loved her little dolls.








Apparently she played with them until she was almost fourteen years old.








She often dressed them herself and they all had names.








This one (above) is Mademoiselle Proche.





They are all exquisite and it was a real bonus to see them on our visit to the museum.

Until next time,
Zoe


10 comments:

  1. These dolls are beautiful, much nicer than i had thought they were having only seen blurry photos of them in the past.

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    1. Yes, they all have quite pinched little faces but that’s somehow quite endearing and their outfits are just fab.

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  2. These are so wonderful Zoe, and your photos really do them justice.
    I am lucky to own a (rather battered) copy of Frances Low's 1894 book "Queen Victoria's Dolls" with beautiful lithographs of the dolls, but it is lovely to see them like this. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Oo, you ARE lucky to own that, Edel, I bet it’s beautiful. Does that mean you can identify these ladies from it? I could only find the names of two of them.

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    2. I will look and let you know, Zoe :-)

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  3. I checked in my book, Zoe, and the ladies' names are (from top to bottom of your report):
    Mlle. Sylvie Leconte
    Lady Sedley
    Mlle. Euphrosine Ancilin (what a fantastic first name!)
    Mlle. Proche
    Mlle. Leontine Héberle

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    Replies
    1. Brilliant, Edel! I will have to update my blog to include them. Thank you. xx

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  4. Mademoiselle Proche’s skirt length is très oo-la-la!

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  5. So it is! I wonder if she’s just a girl or a risqué young woman...

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  6. Oh I love these, I also collect antique dolls and have read about Queen Victoria's dolls house dolls.

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