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Six ‘tied straw’ corn dollies, in the form of angels. They are made of straw which has been tied with cotton to create a simple angel shape. The design comes from Scandinavia, where tied straw figures are made for the Christmas festival, rather than the harvest festival as is common in the UK.

6 corn dollys: corn

MERL miscellaneous note Greta Bertram, 20 August 2013 – The 'Coker Collection' of corn dollies was bequeathed to the Museum by Alec Coker, who devoted his retirement from 1965 until his death in 1986 to spreading knowledge of and teaching the craft of corn dolly making. He first became interested in the craft when working at the BBC when he encountered dollies as props on the set of ‘Lorna Doone’ in the 1930s. ‘Corn’ is a term for the family of grains which includes barley, oats, wheat and rye. ‘Corn dolly’ is a wide-ranging term which includes figures, love tokens, crosses, Scandinavian star designs, and Far Eastern shrine dolls made from ‘corn’ straw. Techniques used in the craft include tying, plaiting, weaving and marquetry. The corn dolly was originally an object used in rites and rituals, and in many parts of the world it was believed that the ‘Corn Goddess’ lived in the crop and died when it was harvested. Images of the Goddess, or other talismans, were woven from the last sheaf to be reaped and carefully preserved to ensure an abundant crop the following year. By the twentieth century, corn dollies had lost their ritual associations, and from the 1950s there was a concerted effort to preserve the craft of corn dolly making., MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – ‘Description: Tied straw // Scandinavian angels // Six Scandinavian angels of varied sizes. Made with straw tied with cotton to form a simple angel shape // Dimensions: 10cm x 4cm average // Associated information: Tied straw work particularly used in schools. A good tough straw is used, the ends of which, cut as weaving straws are the best material. In Scandinavian countries, tied straw figures are made for the Christmas Festival as opposed to the Harvest Festival hence the angels and stars. // References: A. Coker. The Craft of Straw Decoration p.35 // A. Coker’s Collection List of Corn Dollies no.30.’