ChildhoodVictorian dollThis doll was made around 1875-8. It was possibly made by ‘Jumeau’, one of the most famous doll companies of 19th century France. This doll was recently included in the ‘Victorian Life’ exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Before it could go on show, however, our conservators needed to treat some of the damage and dirt that had accumulated over time.
The doll’s dress is made of silk trimmed with lace and muslin. She also wears a cotton-lined bodice, again with a lace trim. The rest of her costume is made up of a pinafore, two petticoats, wool stockings and leather boots. She has a bow in her hair and a gold locket and chain around her neck. Such detailed and sumptuous costumes where one of the reasons why ‘Jumeau’ dolls were, and still are, so sought after.
This particular example was not in a very bad condition, but it was showing signs of its age. Her face was dirty; her earrings were missing; the dress was faded, dirty, creased and in some places split; there was a hole in her right stocking and the heel of her left boot was missing. To treat this damage, the conservator had to work very carefully. The clothes couldn’t be thrown in a washing machine like ordinary clothes, for example. The doll’s face was gently cleaned with a swab. Her hair was humidified (gently moistened) and her ringlets re-formed around bamboo sticks. Her necklace was removed and cleaned. Her pinafore was removed and gently washed in room-temperature water. The damage to the right sleeve was repaired using patches and stitching dyed to match the original colour. The pinafore was replaced and all the trimmings were gently cleaned. All this work took the conservator about 16 hours. The doll was worked on by conservators from the organics conservation department at the National Conservation Centre . In this section
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