May 17, 2009: Pregnant Dolls

[xoxoxoBruce]

Pink Tentacle posted pictures of these pregnant dolls from Japan's Edo period.

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.

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.

These apparently got a lot of use and were handled extensively, so considering their age, they must be made of wood and/or fired clay then painted.