Doll Types - Different Types of Dolls

Dolls are part of human culture for 4000 years now. There are many different types of dolls and we will mention some of them here:

  • Matryoshka doll is Russian wooden nesting doll. It consists of a set of similar doll that all fit into each other from the biggest to the smallest.
  • Porcelain doll or Bisque doll is a doll made from bisque porcelain. They were very popular in Europe between 1860 and 1900 because of their matte texture which made them more human-like then other doll of the time.
  • Reborn doll - vinyl doll made to look like human baby. They appeared for the first time in 1990s.
  • China doll is a doll made out of glazed porcelain. Mainly manufactured in Germany, between 1840 and 1940, they are now sought as collector’s items.
  • Hopi Kachina dolls are made in shapes of Kachinas - messenger spirits that come once a year to Hopi villages to bring rain, celebrate andbring gifts for children.
  • Paper doll is a two-dimensional doll made out of out of paper or thin card. There are many examples of dolls made out of paper throughout the human history but modern ones apperaed in Europe in mid-18th century.
Corn Husk Doll
  • Action figure are dolls intended for boys. They appeared for the first time in United States in 1964.
  • Fashion doll is any doll designed to show modern fashion. First were bisque dolls from from France but trend of using dolls to sell fashion continues even today.
  • Puppet is any type of doll that could be animated or manipulated by puppeteer. Some of the puppets are: sock puppet, finger puppet, marionette, rod puppet and shadow puppet.
  • Ball-jointed doll is a type of doll whose limbs are interconnected with ball and socket joints. They first appeared in late 19th century.
  • Paddle doll is two-dimensional wooden doll, often found at burial places of Ancient Egypt. They date back to 2000BC but it is not know for sure what their purpose was.
  • African doll are very different from each other. Some are used in rituals, some as toys, some as charms, and some as gifts during courting.
  • Corn husk doll is a doll made by Native Americans from dried leaves of a corn cob. It has a body and all limbs but no face.
  • Apple doll is a doll whose head is made from dried apples. Apple is carved and left to dry then placed on the body of the doll.
  • Peg wooden doll is a wooden doll from Germany and the Netherlands. Named like that because limbs of the doll are interconnected with pegs. A children’s toy.
  • Parian doll is a type of porcelain doll made of untinted white porcelain. Made mainly in Germany, between 1860 and 1880.
  • Rag doll is a children’s toy made from cloth. They are maybe one of the oldest known dolls and are known to all cultures.
  • Troll doll is a plastic doll with furry hair. It was designed in 1959 by Danish fisherman and woodcutter Thomas Dam.
  • Teddy bear is a doll made out of fabric in a shape of a bear. They were named after the President of the United States of America Theodore Roosevelt.
  • Bobblehead is a type of doll made out of papier-mache, ceramic or plastic whose main characteristic is that its head is oversized compared to body and connected to the body with spring or wire.
Corn Husk Doll