Object Record
Images
Additional Images [1]
Metadata
Object Name |
Doll |
Title |
Lucy Ann |
Catalog Number |
1976.003 |
Date |
ca. 1860 |
Description |
Adult female doll is a (believed German or English; this type of doll, known as a "Bag-man's Baby", was cheaply sold at English market stalls, and are characterized by slit in crown to receive hair) wax-over papier-mache doll. Lower arms are colored kid leather, perhaps intended to represent long gloves, sewn to a cloth body. Toes are turned in at the end of longish legs. Eyes are brown or black glass, pupil-less. Hair is black human curls, with remaining locks attached to bonnet; a slit head is believed to have previously held the rest of the hair. Clothing is not original (when found commercially, the clothing is cheap and gaudy); she wears a wool salmon/pink dress with blue braid trim, matching cape, edged long pantaloons, a chemise, and three petticoats.Apron is black taffeta with blue button hole edging with red braid trim. Hat is red felt bonnet with black ribbon and ostrich plume. Jewelry is double-strand coral necklace. |
Material |
papier-mache; wax; textile; glass |
Dimensions |
H-26.5 inches |
Owned |
Alice Keesee Goff Sydnor [Alice Keesee Gough Sydnor] |
Provenance |
The doll's name is Lucy Ann, and she "ran" the blockade in 1863 with smuggled quinine stored in her head for Confederate soldiers. Smugglers cut a hole, one and a half inches in diameter, in the back of her head, where they hid medicines. According to the donor, the doll once belonged to Ruth Blakeley Sydnor [Mrs. Walter Sydnor]; research indicates Ruth was born around 1890, and that the doll probably belonged to her mother-in-law, Alice Keesee Goff [or Gough], who was born in 1849. "This doll ran the 'blockade in 1863' during The War Between the States. Quinine was stored in her head for the Confederate Soldiers. You can see where her head was cut in the top, so that it could be filled with Quinine, then her Bonnet tightly fastened to her head. The little girl who owned this doll would be 99 years old if she were living today. Property of Mrs. Walter Sydnor, Jr." |
People |
Sydnor, Alice Keesee Goff [Mrs. Walter] Goff, Alice Keesee |
Subjects |
children girls toys smuggling espionage Spying Blockade running Blockades |