Amannequin (sometimes spelled asmanikin and also called adummy,lay figure, ordress form) is adoll, often articulated, used byartists,tailors,dressmakers,window dressers and others, especially to display or fitclothing and show off differentfabrics and textiles. Previously, the English term referred to human models and muses (a meaning which it still retains in French and other European languages); the meaning as a dummy dating from the start ofWorld War II.[1]
Life-sized mannequins with simulatedairways are used in the teaching offirst aid,CPR, and advanced airway management skills such astracheal intubation. During the 1950s, mannequins were used innuclear tests to help show the effects of nuclear weapons on humans.[2][3] Also referred to as mannequins are the human figures used incomputer simulation to model the behavior of the human body.
Mannequin comes from theFrench wordmannequin, which had acquired the meaning "an artist's jointed model", which in turn came from theFlemish wordmanneken, meaning "little man, figurine",[4] referring to late Middle Ages practice in Flanders whereby public display of even women's clothes was performed by male pages (boys). Fashion shops in Paris ordered dolls in reed from Flemish merchants. Flanders was in terms of logistics the easiest region to import reed dolls from, as the rivers Schelde and Oise provided easy routes from Flanders to Paris. As the Flemish wrote 'manneke(n)' for 'little man' on their invoices, the Parisians pronounced this as 'mannequen', hence shifted to 'mannequin'. A mannequin is thus linguistically masculine, not feminine.
Shop mannequins are derived fromdress forms used by fashion houses for dress making. The use of mannequins originated in the 15th century, when miniature "milliners' mannequins" were used to demonstrate fashions for customers.[5] Full-scale,wickerwork mannequins came into use in the mid-18th century.[5] Wirework mannequins were manufactured in Paris from 1835.[5]
The first female mannequins, made ofpapier-mâché, were made in France in the mid-19th century.[5] Mannequins were later made of wax to produce a more lifelike appearance. In the 1920s, wax was supplanted by a more durable composite made with plaster.[6]
Modern day mannequins are made from a variety of materials, the primary ones beingfiberglass andplastic. The fiberglass mannequins are usually more expensive than the plastic ones, tend to be not as durable, but are significantly more realistic. Plastic mannequins, on the other hand, are a relatively new innovation in the mannequin field and are built to withstand the hustle of customer foot traffic usually witnessed in the store they are placed in.[7]
Mannequins are used primarily by retail stores as in-store displays or window decoration. However, many online sellers also use them to display their products for their product photos (as opposed to using a live model).[7]
Renaissance artistFra Bartolomeo invented the full-scale articulated mannequin (more properly known as lay figure)[8] as an aid in drawing and painting draped figures. In 18th-century England, lay-figures are known to have been owned by portrait painters such asJoshua Reynolds,Thomas Gainsborough, andArthur Devis for the arrangement ofconversation pieces.[9][10]
Anatomical models such as ivory manikins were used by doctors in the 17th century to study medical anatomy and as a teaching aid for pregnancy and childbirth. Each figure could be opened up to reveal internal organs and sometimes fetuses. There are only 180 known surviving ancient medical manikins worldwide.[11]
Today, medicalsimulation mannequins, models or related artefacts such as SimMan,[12] theTransparent Anatomical Manikin orHarvey[13] are widely used inmedical education.[14] The termmanikin refers exclusively to these types of models, thoughmannequin is often also used.
Infirst aid courses, manikins may be used to demonstrate methods of giving first aid (e.g.,resuscitation). Fire and coastguard services use mannequins to practice life-saving procedures. The mannequins have similar weight distribution to a human. Special obese mannequins and horse mannequins have also been made for similar purposes.
Over-reliance on mass-produced mannequins has been criticized for teaching medical students a hypothetical "average" that does not help them identify or understand the significant amount ofnormal variation seen in the real world.[15]
Mannequins were a frequent motif in the works of many early 20th-century artists, notably themetaphysical paintersGiorgio de Chirico,Alberto Savinio andCarlo Carrà.[16][17]
Shop windows displaying mannequins were a frequent photographic subject forEugène Atget.[6]
Mannequins have been used in horror and science fiction.The Twilight Zone episode "The After Hours" (1960) involves mannequins taking turns living in the real world as people. In theDoctor Who serialSpearhead from Space (1970), an alien intelligence attempts to take overEarth with killer plastic mannequins calledAutons.[18][19]
The romantic comedy filmMannequin (1987) is a story of a window dresser who falls in love with a mannequin that comes to life.[20] The romantic thriller filmBommai (2023) is the story of a person who works in a mannequin factory and falls in love with one of the mannequins, imagining it as his childhood crush.[21]
Military use of mannequins is recorded amongst the ancient Chinese, such as at thesiege of Yongqiu. The besieged Tang army lowered scarecrows down the walls of their castles to lure the fire of the enemy arrows. In this way, they renewed their supplies of arrows. Dummies were also used in the trenches in World War I to lure enemy snipers away from the soldiers.[22]
ACentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) report describes the use of a mannequin ("Jack-in-the-Box") as acountersurveillance measure, intended to make it more difficult for the host country'scounterintelligence to track the movement of CIA agents posing as diplomats. A "Jack-in-the-Box"—mannequin representing the upper half of a human—would quickly replace a CIA agent after he left the car driven by another agent and walked away, such that that any counterintelligence officers monitoring the car would believe, at lease briefly, that they were still in it.[23]
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