Dolls, porcelain doll, circa 1870. Ceramic, glass, hair, cotton, muslin. United States. Gift of Mrs. Albert W. Chatterton (Elizabeth Richardson). 1930.86
Female doll with ceramic head, arms and legs, blond wig of real hair, stuffed body and mechanical glass eyes; wearing brown and aqua floral print dress with four pearl buttons up back, white cotton drawers, two petticoats and shift; brown, black and aqua boots painted on the ceramic.
This doll was carried by the donor, a young Elizabeth Richardson as her family fled their north side home at 136 Schiller Street during Great Chicago Fire of 1871. She donated it to the Chicago History Museum in 1930.
Curatorial Statement
This doll represents some of the cherished personal Objects saved by Chicagoans as they fled to safety during the Great Fire of 1871. The fire began on the evening of October 8, 1871 and burned for 36 hours, relieved by rainfall on October 10. It destroyed three and a half square miles and the homes of about one third of the city's residents. Both the doll and the girl, Elizabeth Richardson, survived.
