A wax doll with blond wig, in her original pale blue silk dress, lace coat, blue silk shoes and blue leather gloves, as dressed for the Waterloo Ball, 1815.

Only the head and shoulders of the doll are of wax: the body and limbs are made of a fabric. Until about 1850 the wax heads were modelled by hand. After this period moulds were used and 'poured wax heads' were the result. The limbs of the early wax dolls were usually made of leather or kid. Later wax was used for making the lower limbs and, from 1850, china might be used for these.

This doll belonged to Sarah Hill, sister of Sir Rowland Hill and Mrs Francis Clark of Hazelwood, South Australia. Rowland Hill was a member of the South Australian Association and Secretary to the Colonization Commissioners. It was on his recommendation that Francis Clark and his family migrated to South Australia in 1850.

Without a doubt Sarah would have played with a doll such as this only rarely and would have been admonished not to place it too close to the fire as in the story of 'The doll' in Cobwebs to catch flies.