Summary

Nationa Doll produced to represent a Greek man, it was given to Monica Gates, circa 1978. This doll is wearing a foustanella (skirt/kilt), poukamiso (shirt), yeleko or meindani (vest), kaltses (leg coverings), gonatares (leg garters), zonari (sash), tsarouhia (shoes) and a hooded cloak.The hooded clock and staff suggest the doll is dressed to represent a shepherd as both items were most commonly used by them.

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

Male doll. Has black hairs, the body is made from plastic. He wears red shoes with a black pompon on top. He is dressed in white tights, a white accordion pleat, white blouse, a black leather waistcoat and a white poncho.In his left hand he is holding a staff .

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