Dolls can be made out of just about anything, like twigs, reeds, pine cones, rocks, etc. When supplies and funds are limited parents and children will use their imagination to create playthings out of just about anything that is available. Even pine needles.According to the Nature Dolls chapter of The Complete Photo Guide To Doll Making book by Nancy Hoerner, Barbara Matthiessen, and Rick Petersen - Page 55, "Probably the most primitive dolls were made of twigs and a scrap of fabric or whatever was around."
The picture to the left is a twig doll from the Anatomy Of A Doll: The Fabric Sculptor's Handbook By Susanna Oroyan. In the discussion under elemental forms we learn the following, "Almost every society and culture has a history of using elemental materials - commonly stone, wood, clay, wax, hide, or bone, depending on the location - to make dolls.....None of these forms require instructions or patterns because they are usually created by assembling an assortment of materials, moving them around, noting the suggested form, and combining the materials to accentuate the form."
"It is interesting to theorize which came first - the form or the idea for the form. Did the shape of the twig suggest the figure or a person, or did the maker decide on the person figure, pick up a handy twig, and make it?"
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According to The Information Please Girls' Almanac By Alice Siegel - Page 146 and 147, "Most Pioneer dolls were small, between 3 and 10 inches high. A typical doll had a twig or pine cone body. A child doll had a chestnut head; an adult doll had a hickory head. Acorns, pecans, and walnuts were also used to make these dolls. They were made by women and children who traveled to and settled in the wilderness that became the United States, before there were stores that sold dolls."If you would like to see or read more of this article please click here.
In the Missouri School Journal, Volume 37 From 1920 under the dolls category we learn about twig dolls. Here is what they had to say, "Twig dolls are grotesque. Take a twig which can be trimmed so as to leave two brances for arms and two for legs. The irregular shapes will suggest the type of costume, i.e. - an old man, a clown, a jolly fat boy, etc. Cut head, hands and feet from paper making each double. Glue together on the appropriate ends of the twig. Make the clothes from either cloth or paper."If you would like to see or read more of this article please click here.
On the Craftside Blog there is a blog post with the picture shown to the right of a faceless twig doll and a tutorial showing how to make one. The blog post is entitled, This tutorial on how to make a twig doll is from the new book The Complete Photo Guide to Doll Making and it is a review of The Complete Photo Guide to Doll Making book By Barbara Matthiessen, Nancy Hoerner, and Rick Petersen.On the page is the following summary, "With hairs of roots and arms of twigs, this doll is simple enough for a child to make. Transforming such crude materials into a plaything or art object hints at the many other wonders nature inspires. You'll never look at twigs the same again."
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