{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1386614"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1386614/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2023NJ7020/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2023NJ7020/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2023NJ7020","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018LH0636","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1386614","accessionNumber":"B.154-2017","objectType":"Doll","titles":[{"title":"Bleuette","type":"manufacturer's title"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Female fashion doll with painted composition body and bisque head. The doll represents a white female and wears wig of what appears to be real blonde human hair. She has blue glass sleeping eyes, a plump face, and a partly-opened mouth revealing four upper teeth, her lips are red and her cheeks pink. The composition body is jointed with elastic at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees. ","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Gautier-Languereau","id":"AUTH349017"},"association":{"text":"designers","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"bisque","id":"x33597"},{"text":"composition","id":"AAT237906"},{"text":"hair","id":"AAT11820"},{"text":"glass","id":"AAT10797"}],"techniques":[{"text":"compression moulding","id":"AAT54068"},{"text":"painting","id":"AAT161986"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Bisque, human hair, compression-moulded composition, painted","categories":[{"text":"Dolls","id":"THES274380"},{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"YVA","id":"THES48593"},"images":["2023NJ7020","2018LH0636"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES390299"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"doll","id":"AAT211087"}],[{"text":"fashion doll","id":"AAT211317"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1948-1950","earliest":"1948-01-01","latest":"1950-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":"approximately"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs Nike de Bellaigue","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"280","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/02/2020","earliest":"2020-02-18","latest":"2020-02-18"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"110","unit":"mm","qualifier":"arms at sides","date":{"text":"18/02/2020","earliest":"2020-02-18","latest":"2020-02-18"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"60","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/02/2020","earliest":"2020-02-18","latest":"2020-02-18"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"BLEUETTE / modèle déposé","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Printed paper label, stuck in centre of Bleuette's back"},{"content":"1¼","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Moulded at base of doll's neck"},{"content":"1","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Moulded on underside of doll's foot"}],"objectHistory":"This doll belonged to Nike de Bellaigue, who donated it to the Museum.\n\nRegarding the doll, Mrs. de Bellaigue recalled in July 2015:\n'the <i>Bleuette</i> doll was sponsored by the French children's newspaper <i>La Semaine de Suzette</i>. My elder sister and I were at school in London at the French Lycée and my mother had arranged, through French friends, a subscription to the newspaper in 1950, about a year before I was given the doll.\n\nWe went on holiday to Binic, on the north coast of Brittany, at the end of July 1951 and, when we arrived, my <i>Bleuette</i> was sitting on my bed, dressed in a smart green dress (still in her wardrobe [see B.172-2017]) with a matching hat and white socks and shoes (these tiny accessories were always a delight to me). I was thrilled. It was just before my ninth birthday in August. Sadly no photograph was taken of me with <i>Bleuette</i> to record the event.\n\nThe joy of <i>Bleuette</i> was that she was jointed which gave her more flexibility than other dolls - and then there were the clothes that could be bought... These were specially designed for her and beautifully made. Just like the couturiers, two collections a year, summer and winter, were produced and you could chose from a catalogue. The clothes in <i>Bleuette</i>'s suitcase [see B.190-2017] would have been acquired between 1951 and 1954. They represent presents from kind friends and relatives, mainly my mother and grandmother. I also bought a few of her clothes with my pocket money. Among my favourite outfits were the sailor suit [see B.157-2017] and <i>Bleuette</i>'s winter coat with its jaunty hat [see B.156-2017].\n\nI would just mention that the yellow jersey trousers and top [see B.164-2017], bought for her at the Paris \"Flea Market\" (in Spring 1954) and the white angora cardigan [not acquired], bought in London, are not part of Bleuette's exclusive collections, nor is the suitcase, acquired separately but always used to store her clothes.'\n","historicalContext":"<i>Bleuette</i> was produced between 1905 and 1960. The doll was the invention of Paris publisher Henri Gautier, whose publishing house, Gautier-Languereau, produced <i>La Semaine de Suzette</i>, a magazine intended for young girls. The content of the magazine included patterns for making outfits for <i>Bleuette</i>, encouraging readers to make their own clothes for their dolls. More than a thousand patterns were produced, alongisde a biannual catalogue with which ready-made outfits could be purchased.\n\n<i>Bleuette</i> was an important forerunner to <i>Barbie</i> and the modern idea of a fashion doll. Its association with <i>La Semaine de Suzette</i> is also important within the history of girls' education and pastimes as it encouraged readers to use patterns and to learn how to sew.","briefDescription":"Fashion doll, 'Bleuette', jointed composition body, painted, with a bisque head, France, 1948-1950","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Mass produced","id":"THES48863"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"women","id":"AAT25943"},{"text":"dolls","id":"AAT211317"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>Fashion and action </b>\n\r\nPeople wear different clothes for different occasions, and so do our dolls. \n\r\nThese two sailors have lots of different outfits to choose from. One of them was originally designed for a boy and the other for a girl, but if you think about it, they aren’t that different. \n\n[Young V&amp;A, Imagine Gallery, Small Worlds, group object label]","date":{"text":"01/07/2023","earliest":"2023-07-01","latest":"2023-07-01"}}],"partNumbers":["B.154-2017"],"accessionNumberNum":"154","accessionNumberPrefix":"B","accessionYear":2017,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2023NH6422"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-01-31","recordCreationDate":"2017-03-02","availableToBook":false}}