Summary

National doll produced to represent a German woman, it is one of 8 sent to Monica Gates by relatives in Germany for birthdays etc. Monica began receiving these dolls in 1959, they represent various traditions and dress across Germany. This doll is dressed in traditional German women's folk dress, which generally consists of a dirndl skirt, fitted bodice or vest, blouse, apron, and some form of headwear. Regional differences are shown through the use of various colours, embroidery and the type of headwear.

The Gates collection contains 170 national dolls from 74 different countries and some correspondence relating to the acquisition of several of the dolls. The costumes of the dolls represent national costumes from the 19th Century to the 1990s. Monica Gates collected or was given these dolls between 1957 and 1990.

These dolls were purchased as souvenirs of particular countries and like many mass produced souvenirs they are often not accurate representations of a particular country or region, and may actually better reflect neighbouring counties or regions. This occurs because costumes are often stylised and simplified resulting dolls wearing generic costume elements which are common to many countries/regions. Often the fabrics and decorations used are selected to make the dolls cheap and easy to manufacture and aesthetically pleasing. This can result in the fabrics, colours and decorations of the doll's clothing having little or no reflection of the costume associated with a particular country or region they are meant to be representative of.

Physical Description

Female doll which can open and close her eyes. She is dressed in a dirndl, made from dark blue taffeta. Under her skirt is wearing a cream coloured half slip and briefs in the same colour and taffeta material. The dirndl has long sleeves and over it she has a cream coloured vest with laces around her arms. The same lace is around her neck. She has blond twisted plaits over her ears and as a decoration to the hairstyle is a huge, black ribbon in a shape of two loops.

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