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Corn Husk Doll Rendered by Jane Iverson (artist), c. 1936 watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paper overall: 27.8 x 22.4 cm (10 15/16 x 8 13/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 8 1/4" high Index of American Design 1943.8.15609 Not on View |
The range of materials used to make dolls shows great ingenuity. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a number of American dolls were made from cornhusks and corncobs. This cornhusk doll was made about 1895 in Essex County, Massachusetts. The husk forms the head, limbs, and clothes; cornsilk provides the hair. Cornhusk dolls may have been invented by the early settlers themselves or copied from the Indians. Improvised, handmade dolls of various materials are a tradition in America. Common in the early days of our country, homemade dolls are still found in areas where the commercially produced type is not easily affordable.