Doll's corset

This doll, made in about 1860 was named Lavinia by the original owner Lavinia Hitchcock.  Lavinia died in 1864 aged 8 years, and it is thought that the doll was kept by her family in memory of her. It was brought to New Zealand in 1874 on-board the Calypso. There were ten children in the family at the time.

The doll has become a treasured family heirloom that is a reminder of a deceased child. It also represents the family's English origins and their journey to New Zealand.

Further, the doll is important because it is dressed in its original hand-stitched clothing, representative of the style of dress worn by girls in the 1860s. The outfit includes all the appropriate undergarments of the 1860s including a corset, a chemise, two petticoats and drawers.

The head, shoulders, arms and legs of the doll are wax-over-composition, and is made by applying a thin layer of wax over a wood or paper pulp composition base. This technique became popular in the 1830s. The use of wax gave the surface a smoother and more natural appearance, they were also a lot cheaper to manufacture than poured-wax dolls. One problem that emerged in using this technique is that wax and composition expand and contract at different rates causing cracks – as is seen on Lavinia.