Hobbies And Interests
Terminology
A "doll" as we know it today originated from the pet name "Dorothy" in the early 1700s. Renaissance English referred to the child's toy as a "poppet" or "puppet," which stems from the Latin word "pupa," meaning a newborn child. Other terms "mawmet," "maumet" or "mammette," meaning an idol or false god, evolved from the Christian belief that Muslims worshiped idols symbolizing the profit Mohammed. The word "baby," another Renaissance catchphrase, was adopted to distinguish between actual live infants. In Germany, the child's toy "docke" or "tocke" was named after the woodblocks from which simple figurines were carved.
Useage
Dolls during the Renaissance period taught children the essentials of daily life. They prepared girls for motherhood, as did early dollhouses, which may be traced back to the 16th century. Boys of all classes received toy soldiers as gifts to influence a military future. Fashion dolls sent to other countries showed off the latest couture of the period and, when worn out, became playthings. The poppets also instilled reverence for the church as religious idols in miniature form. Today historians distinguish time-periods from excavated dolls.
Puppets
People used puppets for entertainment, celebration of holidays and teaching lessons. Glove or hand puppets, shadow puppets, rod puppets or marionettes reported the news of the day as entertainment at fairs, markets and even the royal court. Religious stories, like art, also portrayed the gospel to peasants before reading and writing became commonplace. A number of medieval toys excavated at a friary in Esslingen, Germany, included ceramic puppets.
Materials Used
Primitive Renaissance dolls appear homemade, probably by parents or even the children themselves. Early carved figures form simple, two-dimensional figures with carved facial features and clothing. Commonly used materials such as wood, cloth or wax rarely lasted through the ages. However, white pipe-clay dolls, formed from molds, survived from Renaissance France and Germany. Doll makers utilized tin, which was more affordable to lower classes, instead of lead for toy figurines. Fair and market vendors sold edible dolls made of bread, gingerbread or other flour and sugar mixtures. Accessories such as cradles, dishes or clothing evolved toward the end of the Renaissance, which led aristocratic parents to commission tailors to create clothing for dolls.