Puppet & Toy Museum Guesthouse

The Puppet & Toy Museum:

The Puppet & Toy Museum is one of Kashan’s top attractions and holds the most famous of all historic toy collections. Walking through the museum and looking at old toys and puppets trigger nostalgic feelings for people of all ages. The entire building is filled with a variety of different toys from various time periods and origins. The Toy and Doll Museum is situated in the heart of Kashan, next to the historic Tabatabaei House. This old house, over 150 years old, dates back to the Qajar era and belonged to Jafar Feyzi, a poet and cleric from the late Qajar period. It was purchased and restored by Amir Sohrabi, the museum's director and designer, and converted into a museum dedicated to toys and dolls. The building has since been registered as a national monument of Iran under the name Sohrabi House. The museum operates in the private sector.

Since 2008, Amir Sohrabi has been conducting research on dolls and toys from various regions of Iran. This ongoing research project has explored numerous dolls, children's and adult toys, and puppets, with samples collected along the way. Museum guides narrate the stories behind these dolls to visitors. The Doll and Toy Museum is located in the basement of this historic house, accessible by stairs through a corridor adorned with paintings that evoke the museum's enchanting atmosphere. 

Visitors to the museum can see some of the oldest Iranian marionette dolls, which are about 150 years old, along with local Iranian dolls, examples from other cultures, and toys that date back nearly 100 years.

History of the Toy and Doll Museum

The museum is housed in a building from the Qajar era, approximately 150 years old. This building is listed in the country's national heritage under the name Sohrabi House and underwent renovation and restoration over the past two years. Mr. Sohrabi, a theater student, began collecting old puppets in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He purchased a house in the old part of Kashan, restored it, and opened the Toy and Puppet Museum in the winter of 2017.

Architecture of the Toy and Puppet Museum

The museum occupies an 800-square-meter old house with two floors and seven artistically decorated residential rooms. The residential units are arranged around a courtyard. After the idea of converting the residence into a museum was implemented, the puppets were relocated to the ground floor, displayed in glass showcases adorning the walls.

What Can Be Visited in the Kashan Toy and Puppet Museum?

The collection, gathered by Mr. Sohrabi from various cities and supplemented by toy donations from visitors, features toys from the Qajar era up to more recent factory-made metal and plastic toys, some of which are about 150 years old. Some dolls have belonged to traditional puppeteers, known as "tricksters" at the time. The museum showcases marionette dolls, cloth and clay dolls, as well as wooden, stone, and clay toys.