It is hard to know where, when or why this cabinet of dolls was collected

Robert Parker stands in the hall by a cabinet that contains 29 wooden dolls, each about 6in high and dressed in the habit of a different religious order or group within the Roman Catholic clergy.

Nuns are grouped to the right and male figures — with two female interlopers — to the left. The figure enthroned beneath a canopy in the centre is presumably intended to represent the Pope, but, confusingly, seems to have acquired the hat belonging to the cardinal dressed in crimson. The set was probably made in the 18th century.

Browsholme, which stands in the Forest of Bowland, has been in the Parker family since the 14th century. Thomas Lister Parker, who became the heir when a minor in 1794, was particularly important in developing its exceptionally rich and diverse collections of art and curios.

An enthusiastic and well-travelled antiquarian, he published Description of Browsholme Hall (1815), which illustrated the building and the principal objects of historical interest on display within it.

‘It is hard to know where, when or why this object was collected,’ notes Parker. ‘A 1777 catalogue of the contents of Cowdray House, West Sussex, noted a glass case in the Breakfast Room “with Figures and Dresses of the different orders in the Church of Rome”. Most of Cowdray’s contents were destroyed in a terrible fire in 1793, but it’s possible that this item survived and made its way to Browsholme.’

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This feature originally appeared in the August 5, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.