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, from the Schwalm Valley in Hesse in Central Germany. The costume consists of a knee-length skirt which is worn over many layers of petticoats, stockings, black shoes, a blouse, shoulder shawl and Betzel (a little cap which covers atop knot of hair). The colour of the cap changes according to age and marital status, red is worn by girls; green denotes a married woman, between 40 and 50 women wear lilac and women over 50 or widows wear black. The red betzel worn by young girls from this region was the inspiration for the title of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale 'Little Red Riding Hood'.

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 in a black skirt with a floral pattern, which is covered with a white apron. The doll has white stockings and black shoes which have been painted on. She has blond hair on which sits a small red cap, which is held on with two black ribbons.

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