The Weaver’s Cottage doll

Kilbarchan was at the heart of the traditional handloom weaving industry during the 18th and 19th centuries. The majority of the objects in the collection were donated by people from the community after the Trust bought the property in the mid-1950s, and they truly reflect the daily life and soul of the village.

Dolls, and toys in general, are everyday objects that can help us understand the social life and behaviour of people who lived centuries ago. Dolls have existed for thousands of years, from papyrus-stuffed ragdolls found in ancient Egypt to mass-produced 1950s Barbie dolls. The earliest dolls were made of simple materials such as clay, bone and wood, and it’s only from the Middle Ages that dolls began to be widely produced in Europe and carefully crafted to look as real as possible.

In the Victorian era dolls often had an instructional function, and girls would play with their dolls and imitate the adults around them. It was only in the early 20th century that ‘baby’ dolls started to appear.

The doll from Weaver’s Cottage has a papier-mâché head and torso with hand-painted details, and wooden legs and arms. Papier-mâché is a composition of pieces of paper or pulp and bound with some sort of adhesive, which can be moulded into various shapes when wet and becomes very hard once dry.