Doll with leading string on printed gown

This wooden painted doll must have been reclothed in the late eighteenth century. The gown, made of printed cotton, is typical of clothing worn by girls during the second half of the eighteenth century, a time when children wore back-fastening garments (adult women's gowns typically opened at the front). The cotton garment still has one of the fabric leading strings stitched to a shoulder. Leading strings were originally intended to assist children learning to walk and were then retained in some children's clothing as a symbol of youth.
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