- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- Male costume doll in fur clothing.
- Date / Period
- Date made: Before 1918
- Date collected
- By 1918
- Acquisition information
- Donated: 1918
- Materials and processes
- Material Wood Plant, Material Animal Fur Skin
- Dimensions
- Length: max 324 mm
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1918.25.12
- Research and responses
This object was looked at in the display case by Carole Charette and Bernard Houde (Faculty of Fine Arts and Communications, MacEwan University, Alberta, Canada). The visit took place July 27 2015. [NC 27/07/2015]
- Associated publications
- This object features in the Museum's audio tour produced in 2010. Transcription as follows: “These dolls and puppets come from around the world. Have a look at the figurines in the far left section of the case – some of these are many thousands of years old from the ancient civilisations of Peru and Egypt, and several were found in graves, buried with children. It’s impossible to say if these were dolls in the sense of toys. Instead, they may have been ritual objects, or simply ornaments. In the right hand section of the case, in the top left corner, you’ll see two large dolls dressed in fur clothing. They were collected amongst the Inuit of the Labrador region in north-eastern Canada in the early 20th century. They have been dressed in very detailed, exact copies of adult Inuit winter clothing. The garments are made from warm caribou fur (or reindeer, as the animal is known in Europe) – ideal for combating temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius – and the gloves and boots are made of waterproof sealskin. The figure on the left is male and the figure on the right is female – see how she has a much larger hood, designed to accommodate a baby or small child on her back. Dolls like these would traditionally have been carved out of wood by the father and the clothes sewn by the mother or another female relative. The doll was then used to teach children about cultural identities and their role in life. However, the decline in traditional clothing in favour of modern, manufactured garments, combined with a growth in tourism, meant these types of doll were increasingly made to sell as souvenirs. This is almost certainly the case with these examples." (Written by Bryony Reid and Helen Hales) References: • Morrison, D. and G. H. Germain, Inuit: Glimpses of an Arctic Past, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization (1995) [HH 26/10/2010] This object was featured in the Museum's audio guide produced during the DCF-funded 'What's Upstairs?' project, 2004–2006. [BR 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 8/11/2005]
Search terms: Toy and Game, Clothing, Model, Figure, Doll Figure