Wonderland of Dolls Putul · गुड़िया
See them in person

Museums & Collections

The best way to understand dolls is to stand in front of them. These institutions preserve and display dolls from antiquity to the present — most with rich online collections you can explore from anywhere.

Exterior view of The Strong National Museum of Play building and plaza in Rochester, New York
Credit:Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor · CC BY-SA 4.0 · view source

The Strong National Museum of Play

Rochester, New York, USA

Home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of toys, dolls and games — including fine Bru and Jumeau bisque dolls — and to the National Toy Hall of Fame.

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Exterior of the Young V&A museum building on Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, London
Credit:Photo: Bex Walton · CC BY 4.0 · view source

Young V&A (formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood)

Bethnal Green, London, UK

Part of the Victoria & Albert Museum, holding one of the world’s most important collections of childhood objects, dolls and dolls’ houses.

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The ornate entrance facade of the Victoria and Albert Museum on Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London
Credit:Photo: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0 · view source

Victoria & Albert Museum — Dolls’ Houses

London, UK

The V&A’s celebrated collection spans dolls’ houses from the 17th-century Nuremberg house onward — arguably the finest such collection anywhere.

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Exterior of the Sergiev Posad Museum of Toys building in Sergiev Posad, Russia
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Sergiev Posad Museum of Toys

Sergiev Posad, Russia

In the historic heart of Russian toy-making, and keeper of the Japanese Fukuruma figure long linked to the birth of the matryoshka.

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Exterior of the Yokohama Doll Museum building in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan
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Yokohama Doll Museum

Yokohama, Japan

Thousands of dolls from Japan and around the world, tracing both traditional ningyō and international traditions.

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A glass display cabinet filled with miniature dolls and dollhouse furniture at a doll museum
Credit:Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor · CC BY-SA 3.0 · view source

Museo Nacional del Títere / regional doll museums

Worldwide

Dozens of national and regional toy and doll museums exist across Europe, the Americas and Asia — a Wikipedia overview is a good starting point for finding one near you.

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Go further

Societies & further reading

Visitors viewing a wide display of antique dolls at a doll collectors' exhibition
Credit:Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor · CC BY-SA 4.0 · view source

United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC)

The major membership body for doll collectors, with conventions, education and a doll museum.

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The Strong National Museum of Play illuminated at night in Rochester, New York
Credit:Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor · CC BY-SA 4.0 · view source

The National Toy Hall of Fame

Honours the toys — several of them dolls — that have shaped play across generations.

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Links lead to third-party websites we consider reputable; Putul.in is not affiliated with these institutions, and details such as opening hours should be confirmed on their own sites. New to the vocabulary of doll collecting? See our Glossary of Doll Terms.