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300 D thumbnail 2
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This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

300 D

Doll
1965 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The 300 D doll was Fredun Shapur's first toy design which used plastic. Its colouring, form, and basic facial features were intended to provide a blank surface for children's imaginations. The dolls were also made in red and grey colourings, and boasted a line of modern clothing.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Doll
  • Packaging
Title300 D (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Plastic, moulded and printed
Brief description
'300 D' doll, designed by Fredun Shapur for Amanda Jane, England, 1965
Physical description
Doll made from dark blue plastic. It is designed in a simple Modernist manner with no obvious ethinicity or gender, with minimal facial features moulded and printed in black, and a hairstyle of moulded lines. It is simply jointed and pivots at the arms, legs and neck. It has slender limbs and a spherical head, fingerless cup-like hands, and toeless feet.

With the doll is a hexagonal card box, simply printed with block areas of brown and red, and with the manufacturer's name in white.
Dimensions
  • Height: 275mm
  • Width: 85mm
  • Depth: 55mm
Style
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Amanda Jane' (Moulded into back of doll)
  • 'an / Amanda Jane / toy' (Printed on the box)
  • 'made in England' (Printed on the box)
Gallery label
(01/07/2023)
Dolls can be anyone

Dolls are often come with readymade stories or personalities and are usually made as girls or boys. But these two dolls were designed to be neither and can be whoever we want them to be, in any story.

Our imaginations choose who our dolls are.

[Young V&A, Imagine Gallery, Small Worlds, group object label]
Credit line
Given by Mr Fredun Shapur
Historical context
The 300 D was awarded the London Design Centre label in 1965.
Production
These dolls were also available in red and grey colourings, and had a line of clothing.
Summary
The 300 D doll was Fredun Shapur's first toy design which used plastic. Its colouring, form, and basic facial features were intended to provide a blank surface for children's imaginations. The dolls were also made in red and grey colourings, and boasted a line of modern clothing.
Bibliographic reference
p. 32-33 Shapur, Mira (ed.) and Ogata, Amy F. Fredun Shapur, Playing with Design. Paris, 2013
Collection
Accession number
MISC.257:1, 2-1988

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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