One of the Princesses Sprouts of Brussels

The Princess Sprout of Brussels is one of the characters of Una Maw's book The Vegetable Kingdom. The dolls were made by Maw while she lived in London around 1920, and were donated to the London Museum in 1922. Within the book, the five Princes and Princess Sprouts of Brussels were the Belgian cousins of King Pots who became refugees during a war in the story, which is clearly based on the First World War. Maw described the Sprouts as 'Belgian cousins of the Royal Family small but good'.

Doll with stuffed cloth body dressed in a dress or tunic of blue cotton with a white strip and black diamond pattern. The garment has a white cotton collar and is tied with a bow of very pale blue silk ribbon around the waist. Head resembles a Brussel Sprout, with facial features embroidered and painted on, including eyes of cloth covered buttons and 'leaves' of green silk. Also hasa long plait of green thread 'hair' tied with a pink bow. Doll is attached to a small metal chair.