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 and bed belongs to this collection and are among the older objects.
The bed, less than ten cm long, has 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.