In 1949, the descendants of the powerful and stately Bruun family on Børøya island handed over a large collection of objects, textiles and archives. The collection was donated to what was then called Vesterålsmuseet, today Melbo Manor. The collection is dated from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s, and has national significance.
The doll in bed belongs to this collection and are among the older objects.
It is a tiny doll bed, less than ten cm long, with two small figures in it. Under the covers lies what could be perceived as a mother, and on the duvet, on their own little blanket, lies another figure, a baby. The toy thus appears as a portrayal of a mother, perhaps recovering from childbirth, a mother and a baby. The mother has clothes on, and some sort of head scarf on, while the baby appears to be wrapped in a cloth.
The doll bed and dolls clearly bear signs of having been handled by many small children’s hands over many years.