The marvellous world of historical dolls
A small but prestigious collection that attracts enthusiasts to Val di Cornia and amazes visitors.
The dolls in the museum come from different factories in Italy and are displayed by theme, with informative and educational purposes.
The itinerary begins with the Lenci dolls and those of the Charlotte Line by the artist Augen, with umbrellas and other accessories of the time.
Then, in the second central room you can admire the dolls linked to Carnival, including several versions of Pierrot, such as the dadaist inspired one, the Harlequin puppet and the Pierrot rescued from the mud of the Florence flood in 1966…
On the left there are the more curious and valuable pieces, including the pair of dolls in black bisque, the Cocotte, in wood with flexible joints, the rag dolls, the three-faced doll and the more “classic” examples of collectable artistic dolls, both large and small, with real hair, lace and embroidery clothes, and some male dolls.
The section dedicated to the Lenci dolls from the famous cloth factory founded in Turin in 1919 that produced artistic items, and which became a real business phenomenon overseas in the 1930s and 1940s, is really interesting. For example, in this section you can admire Violetta, inspired by the star of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Traviata, made in 1921 and which has become the symbol of the Museum.
Of the older exhibits, there are the Sardinian Dolls, a pair of dolls in traditional costume, with painted papier-mâché head and padded cloth body, made in the late 19th century.
To create a link between the dolls of yesteryear and the dolls of today there is a section dedicated to the dolls of the 1950s, made in hard plastic and characterised by moving eyes and a “talking” mechanism.
