Summary

National Doll produced to represent a Greek woman, it was given to Monica Gates, circa 1978. Women's folk costumes in Greece are comprised of several basic elements: shirt and skirt or dress, apron, head covering either a head scarf, hat or both, stockings and shoes. Colour, ornamentation, fabrics and the style of individual items are used to denote regional differences.

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 with a long stripe (green, grey, white) skirt. Over that comes a short red skirt and a yellow pinafore. Around her waste line she is wearing a golden belt. She is dressed in a white blouse and red vest ( with gold trimming ). Under the skirt she is wearing white knickers with lace and has red painted pop socks and black shoes ( painted ) Her body is made from plastic, her face is painted ( blue eyes ). Her hairs are red and she is wearing a yellow scarf. On her head she has a little round hat.

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