"The August Ones. Dolls": how toys shaped a girl's personality in the 19th–20th centuries
An exposition titled "The August Ones. Dolls" has opened at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. It features porcelain and textile toys that helped girls learn care, attentiveness and the basics of future motherhood, and, through miniature interiors, wardrobes and accessories, acquire etiquette rules and household skills. The opening of the exposition was attended by the Deputy Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA, Anastasia Zvyagina.
"The exposition 'The August Ones. Dolls' at the Pushkin Museum presents an astonishing collection of 19th–20th century porcelain and textile dolls, each of which served an educational purpose, helping girls learn care, attentiveness and the foundations of future motherhood. This is the special value of the exposition — it shows what was fashionable and what children paid attention to in different eras, since every doll was a small companion of childhood and shaped a child's personality. I recently visited the Toy Museum in Sergiev Posad and was captivated by the beauty and historical significance of the items. A toy is an important stage in a person's development. Expositions like this clearly demonstrate how culture and play intertwine in upbringing," noted the Deputy Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA, Anastasia Zvyagina.
The exposition tells how the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries became the golden age of dolls and led to the active development of toy production as a whole. During this period, dolls acquired their own typology, and their appearance reflected fashionable trends. They became objects of collecting and turned into a symbol of particular ideals, traditions, and styles.
"A 19th-century doll was not only a beautiful toy but also a tool of diplomacy and children's upbringing. It played an exceptional role in teaching etiquette, including to the children of august persons. Our exposition showcases a large number of valuable and unique items from private collections and museums. We want visitors to see beauty capable of nurturing a person who creates beauty. This exposition is addressed to everyone who remembers that they were once a child," said the Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Olga Galaktionova.
The first artistic dolls of the second third of the 19th century were made of wax, porcelain and biscuit porcelain and were intended to decorate interiors and denote the status of their owner. In the imperial family and among the high nobility, porcelain dolls from Germany and France with wardrobes made of expensive fabrics and lace were especially popular. Dressmakers often received orders for identical dresses for both the girl and her doll. Craftsmen produced miniature replicas of living rooms, while porcelain and glass factories manufactured children's and doll's tableware sets. Creating items for a child and for a doll became commonplace, and the principle of proportionality helped children better acquire essential skills through play.
"We aimed to demonstrate the variety of 19th-century dolls and show that each of them carried a particular educational purpose. The dolls’ outfits were created in strict accordance with the fashion and etiquette of the era. Their provenance varied: some factories employed professional designers to create outfits, while domestic workshops existed where an invited dressmaker would first dress the family members and then make matching costumes for dolls from the same fabrics," said collector and exposition curator Diana Panskaya.
In the late 19th century, dolls sold in Russia began to be dressed in outfits inspired by the traditional costumes of the provinces of the Russian Empire. Among the exhibits is a set of eight cloth dolls dressed in national costumes of the peoples of the Russian Empire, created to mark the official visit of Emperor Nicholas II to France in 1896 and presented to his family.
At the same time, an interest in ethnic imagery emerged in France as well. The exposition includes dolls in traditional costumes of the French province of Brittany, accompanied by Breton-style doll furniture.
Special attention is given to recreating the atmosphere of children's rooms at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, filled with toys. They helped girls learn household management: a miniature stove with a set of pots, a sewing machine, doll’s and children’s tableware sets. From an early age, girls were taught taste and a desire to follow fashion, as evidenced not only by extensive doll wardrobes but also by fashion magazines.
Technical progress was reflected primarily in the production of toys for boys. The exposition features a children's railway of the early 20th century, made by the Märklin company. Items by this company were present in the playroom of Tsesarevich Alexei in Tsarskoye Selo. Russian production of metal toys is represented by items from the factory of P. P. Talayev, which operated in the Moscow region in the 1910s. Automata and mechanical toys hold an important place in the exposition. For the first time, toy French bulldogs shown in full size with movable heads, made of papier-mache, are being displayed.
One of the sections of the exposition recreates the atmosphere of New Year and Christmas: an artificial Christmas tree of the early 20th century, a snow-covered carousel with small dolls, a Christmas dollhouse, tree decorations, and a French Guignol theatre with a screen and seven glove puppets that belonged to Tsesarevich Alexei and accompanied the heir throughout all festive seasons of the year.
"The main heroine of our exposition is the porcelain doll, an exceptionally expensive object. Our exposition is about the golden age of the porcelain doll and a time of remarkable development of toys, of education through play. The dolls were so beautiful that a girl learned to take care first of the doll and then of herself and her household. That is why we included the word 'august' in the title, since the dolls were available only to affluent social groups, the nobility, and at times exclusively to august persons," said Senior Research Associate of the Department of Personal Collections of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and curator of the exposition, Yekaterina Lisitsyna.
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