animal, toy
Object
Accession Number
2015.001Alternate Name
dogDescription
Circa 1890 papier mache French bulldog toy with glass eyes and wheels on feet. Chain extending from collar activates mechanism to make dog bark when pulled. White and brown colouring. Modern black satin bow around neck.Narrative
French papier-mâché bulldog toys like this one were popular items during the late 19th Century. This one is named Shirley, after the wife of the man from whom The Castle Society acquired it.Joan Dunsmuir’s great-grandson, Sir Dermot Humphrey de Trafford, 6th Baronet, FRSA, VRD (19 January 1925 – 22 January 2010) owned a French papier-mâché bulldog similar to this example. His mother, Joan Isabel Chaplin (1899-1977) and uncle John Robert Chaplin (1901-1970), visited Craigdarroch during Joan Dunsmuir's lifetime, and may have played with a toy like this example, which was popularly known as a "growler".
This example once had a hairy ring around its neck. Almost all of its hair is now missing.
