Category Archives: museum,arts
19th-century pregnant dolls
19th-century pregnant dolls
19th-century obstetric training doll – Wada Museum
In the 18th and 19th centuries, sideshow carnivals known as misemono were a popular form of entertainment for the sophisticated residents of Edo (present-day Tokyo). The sideshows featured a myriad of educational and entertaining attractions designed to evoke a sense of wonder and satisfy a deep curiosity for the mysteries of life. One popular attraction was the pregnant doll.
![Vintage wooden pregnant mannequin, Japan --](https://i0.wp.com/www.pinktentacle.com/images/pregnant_doll_3_small.jpg)
“Light-skinned” pregnant doll – Edo-Tokyo Museum
Although it is commonly believed that these dolls were created primarily to teach midwives how to deliver babies, evidence suggests they were also used for entertainment purposes.
![Edo-era obstetric doll, Japan --](https://i0.wp.com/www.pinktentacle.com/images/pregnant_doll_2_small.jpg)
“Dark-skinned” pregnant doll – Edo-Tokyo Museum
For example, records from 1864 describe a popular show in Tokyo’s Asakusa entertainment district that educated audiences about the human body. The show featured a pregnant doll whose abdomen could be opened to reveal fetal models depicting the various stages of prenatal development.
![Old wooden baby dolls, Japan --](https://i0.wp.com/www.pinktentacle.com/images/wood_baby_doll_small.jpg)
Baby doll – Edo-Tokyo Museum
Similarly, records of Japan’s first national industrial exhibition in 1877 indicate a Yamagata prefecture hospital doctor named Motoyoshi Hasegawa showed off an elaborate set of fetus models illustrating seven different stages of growth, from embryo to birth.
![Japanese pregnancy manikin, Japan --](https://i0.wp.com/www.pinktentacle.com/images/pregnant_doll_5_small.jpg)
Fetus model set (circa 1877) – Toyota Collection
Although it is unclear whether the fetus model set pictured here is the same one Hasegawa showed in 1877, records suggest his model was a hit at the exhibition.
[Source: Geijutsu Shincho magazine, July 2001
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