Historical Treasures
Dressing to impress with one of the world’s oldest toys Britain and America, c.1748
Pandora doll
Dolls have a rich and fascinating history that dates back to at least 2,000 BCE and stretches across the globe. Although they’ve been played with as toys for centuries, dolls were also used as grave goods and for ritual purposes: girls in ancient Greece and Rome would offer their childhood dolls to the goddesses upon marriage, while boys dedicated theirs to the gods once they reached puberty.
Wooden paddle dolls found in Egyptian graves are believed to have a religious meaning, as well as representing fertility and ensuring the eternal rebirth of the dead. Jointed dolls with moveable limbs date back to at least the 4th or 5th century BCE, and it has been suggested that some of these dolls, too fragile to play with, were used as charms to ward off evil.
In the ancient world dolls were created from a variety of materials including clay, wood, terracotta, wax, bone and cloth. They were usually purchased from artisans or made at home, and were sometimes completed with clothing and shoes. Doll production first developed in the Middle Ages, most notably in Nuremberg, which became the centre for dollmaking by the end of the 17th century.
During the 18th century, dolls such as the one shown here became a popular form of fashion advertising. These fashion dolls, known as Pandora dolls, were particularly associated with Paris and Rose Bertin, dressmaker to Marie Antoinette. Bertin would send dolls to the queen’s sisters and mother dressed up in the latest fashion trends for them to see. Other miniature and life-sized Pandora dolls produced in France, the fashion capital of the world, were circulated around the globe.
Pandora dolls were eventually overtaken by the arrival of fashion magazines in the 19th century, and at the same time porcelain and paper dolls were being produced. Although dolls were traditionally expensive, new production methods and cheaper materials introduced after WWII led to a boom in doll production, making them available for all children. In 1959 the nowiconic plastic Barbie doll was released the US, and soon became popular all over the world.