Doll representing a male court official in Rajpur, Rajasthan, ca. 1900.

Doll represents a male court official in Rajpur popularly known as Ranakpur in Rajasthan.

Given by Miss Florence Burton

Given by Miss Florence Burton, a resident of the Close of Norwich Cathedral (RF 61/3774). Miss Burton wrote offering the three dolls Misc. 2 to 4-1962 to the Curator of Indian Section [now part of Asian department] on November 25th 1961. She states that they represent "an Indian Rajah, his wife & a dancing girl...they are a very beautiful & faithful copy of what these represent. Dress, jewels & the Rajahs [sic] weapons are correct & the gold braid on the dresses as bright & untarnished as the day they were made...They came to my father under the will of a relative in 1905 or 1906. They had been made we understood to amuse a young girl in illness who died a widow of about 45 to 50 years of age so the date of their making must be about 80 to 90 years ago...They have been in my house for over 50 years...The next generation will I fear have little or no room to keep anything not of use & I do want this gift preserved."

The dolls are probably all of German manufacture and originally represented Caucasian females. Comments by Robert Skelton of Indian Section in a minute of 01/01/1962: "They seem to be European imports dressed up in India about 60 years ago. the raja is a boy doll with whiskers painted on in India - the style of his beard is typical of Rajasthan but could have been worn by Rajputs elsewhere. His turban does not fit in with the Rajasthani fashions known to me. On the whole I should judge that he, his Rani and maidservant are wearing Central Indian costume, but I should not like to rule Rajasthan out of it. It is difficult to say where the costumes etc. were made but one would expect that the place concerned had a fairly large or regular output of doll's [sic] jewellery etc. since these details are splendidly accurate. A number of centres specialised in making dolls but had their own traditional ways of making them in wood, clay, cloth and papier maché...at any rate they are in good condition and give an accurate picture of state costume at a Rajput court at the end of the last century."

MISC.2-1962