Not currently on display at the V&A

Prince Charles

Portrait Doll
1953 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Bisque shoulder head and lower limbs, stuffed cloth body, moulded and painted light brown hair, blue eyes with black upper and lower lashes and light brown brows; feet designed to represent brown strapped shoes and white socks; wearing a fine cotton cream shirt and darker shorts with a belt; decorated with vertical tucks and pearlized buttons; all pieces fasten with press studs, however, shirt is stitched back and front to the body.


Object details

Object type
TitlePrince Charles (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
bisque, cotton
Brief description
Prince Charles doll by Martha Thompson, 1953, USA
Physical description
Bisque shoulder head and lower limbs, stuffed cloth body, moulded and painted light brown hair, blue eyes with black upper and lower lashes and light brown brows; feet designed to represent brown strapped shoes and white socks; wearing a fine cotton cream shirt and darker shorts with a belt; decorated with vertical tucks and pearlized buttons; all pieces fasten with press studs, however, shirt is stitched back and front to the body.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10in
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
MDT 1953 (shoulder plate)
Object history
The dolls were given to The Doll Club of Great Britain in the late 1950s.
Historical context
Martha Darwin Thompson began making dolls in 1942 and continued until her death in January 1964. She was a charter member of the National Institute of American Doll Artists, formed in 1962. Her first dolls were made of soap with cloth bodies, but she soon progressed to using porcelain and many of her dolls were made of flesh coloured bisque. She made many portrait dolls but is equally well known for her Pedlar Dolls and those representing the Little Women characters.
These two dolls were designed to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. However, Martha Thompson did various other portraits of Prince Charles and Princess Anne as children.
Production
Attribution note: Martha Thompson designed these dolls together with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in celebration of the Coronation in 1953
Reason For Production: Commemorative
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
B.174-2000

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Record createdMay 12, 2000
Record URL
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