Summary

National doll produced to represent a Polish woman. It was given to Monica Gates circa1970s-1980s. Poland historically contained many languages, cultures and religions. Traditional Polish folk costumes vary by region, but are typically brightly coloured and decorated with embroidery. Clothing for women includes a full skirt, blouse and headdress, and vests and aprons are also worn in many regions. Lace up boots are also often worn.

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

Doll, plastic, female. She is wearing a dress comprising of a white muslin bodice and light blue skirt. At the hem of the skirt is a deep white border decorated with a floral pattern. She has a red vest with a red braid border around the waist. She has a green felt cap with flowers and a red and yellow ribbon and a white net apron with white floral embroidery on the lower edge. She has loose blonde, shoulder length hair.

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