Dolls

Scope Note: Figurines representing humans or animals, including but not restricted to those intended as toys for children, usually girls, or as collectibles for adults. Dolls are commonly in the form of a baby or woman, often with changeable clothes; they may have moveable arms and legs. Doll may be made of cloth (rag dolls), wood, clay, porcelain, wax, paper, plastic, celluloid, corn husks, or other materials. Dolls may also be figurines used for ceremonial, religious, or decorative purposes. Archaeological evidence suggests that dolls were the first playthings; they have been found in Babylonian and Egyptian tombs from ca. 3000 BCE. In ancient Greece and Rome, maturing girls consecrated their childhood dolls to the goddesses. Cloth dolls in the form of animals are generally called "stuffed toys."