The Art of Play: The Bru Bride Doll, 1865-1867

Bride Doll
France, 1865-67
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The image of the idealized bride has always been a popular one and has served as an inspiration for all manner of art forms over the centuries. Here, we see a doll from France that was made between 1865 and 167 and is dressed as a bride. The doll has a molded bisque swivel head and shoulder plate, stuffed calico body and legs, kid leather arms, inset blue glass eyes, and a blonde mohair wig. She is dressed in an ornate two-piece dress of lace-trimmed white satin, with a long train and a tasseled sash.

Such bride dolls became quite popular in the Nineteenth Century and showed the growing trend toward white wedding gowns. Before that, wedding dresses could have been made in any color although blue was one of the most popular choices, and green one of the least popular.