Skip Navigation

Doll and Wardrobe, Sanitary Fair

Decorative Arts and Design

Dolls were highly popular as toys and collectibles in the nineteenth century, and this rare example, with its extensive wardrobe and exquisitely detailed accessories, was outfitted by a local dressmaker named Eliza Lefferts and sold at the Brooklyn and Long Island Sanitary Fair of 1864. The style and quality of its clothing are representative of an urban, upper-middle-class girl’s wardrobe. Among the many unique objects in the doll’s ensemble is an elaborate toiletries set that was likely a gesture to educate the public about personal hygiene.
DATES 1864
DIMENSIONS Doll (approximate height): 12 in. (30.5 cm) Trunk (approximately): 9 x 16 x 9 1/2 in. (22.9 x 40.6 x 24.1 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 24.311mn
CREDIT LINE Gift of Mrs. Ira B. Downs
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Doll and Wardrobe, Sanitary Fair, 1864., Doll (approximate height): 12 in. (30.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ira B. Downs, 24.311mn. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 24.311_PS1.jpg)
IMAGE group, 24.311_PS1.jpg.
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.