 Dolls
The dolls in the museum’s world-renowned collection
offer insights into the values, manners, and mores of past generations;
interpret the costumes and cultures of native and foreign peoples; and
reflect the aesthetics and history of the international doll industry.
They range from Egyptian funerary figures (c. 1500 BC) to 20th-century
collectible dolls, including 19th-century porcelain European play dolls,
international travel dolls, "Whimsies,” American cloth dolls,
and rare 19th-century Native American and Inuit dolls. Not to be missed
is the Elizabeth Richards Horton International Doll Collection—one
of only two collections in the world to remain intact for more than
100 years—containing dolls from turn-of-the-century celebrities
and royals, and Miss Columbia, the doll who traveled around the world
from 1900 to 1902.
A rotating permanent exhibition features approximately 1,000 of the
5,000 dolls in the Wenham Museum's world-famous doll collection. Included
are fine examples of both French and German Bisque dolls, dolls of unusual
media, unique artist's figures, and dolls by 19th- and 20th-century
American doll makers. Some of the many highlights of the exhibit are
a late 18th-century wooden "Suzanna Holyoke" doll with original
costume, late 19th-century bisque costumed mechanical dolls, dolls by
Joel Ellis, Grenier and Izannah Walker and examples of 20th- century
collectible dolls by Vogue, Madame Alexander and the Ideal Toy Company.
Permanently displayed in the Osgood Gallery is the International Doll
Collection (IDC), the original nucleus of the museum's doll collection,
donated in 1922 by Elizabeth Richards Horton, a former resident of the
Claflin-Richards House. On behalf of charities all over the world, Mrs.
Horton would plan an itinerary a year in advance, pack her dolls, and
ship them off to be exhibited as a charitable fundraising event. Over
the years, in an effort to expand her collection, Mrs. Horton wrote
to officials, celebrities, and the crown heads of Europe to request
donations to her collection. Many personalities of note responded and
the collection still contains dolls from Queen Victoria, the Emperor
and Empress of Japan, Czar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra, Admiral Byrd
and Cecil Rhodes, among others. A highlight of the IDC is Miss Columbia,
the museum's most famous doll. A cloth Columbian doll designed and manufactured
by Emma and Marietta Adams of Oswego, N.Y., Miss Columbia traveled around
the world by herself from 1900 to 1902 raising funds for children's
charities. She is displayed with her travel diary and souvenirs. In
the year 2000, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of her voyage,
a reproduction Miss Columbia was sent around the United States to elementary
schools with her own curriculum and Web-based journal.
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