Summary

National doll produced to represent a woman from the region of Kashmir. It was given to Monica Gates, by her mother who purchased it in Kashmir in 1978. The most common attire for women in Kashmir is the pheran. They are long, loose gowns, which are decorated with colourful floral motifs and designs. Whereas a Muslim woman wears a pheran that is knee-length, loose and embroidered in front and on the ends, they are tied at the waist with folded material called lhungi. The headwear often worn with the pheran is a taranga which symbolizes the decorative hood of the celestial serpent.

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 with body made of stuffed cloth and composition head. Black hair flows to the waist. Garment is full length with long sleeves and includes a pieces wrapped over the head and another piece wrapped over the shoulder and down to the waist at the front. Material is orange hemmed with a black and white braid. Face is painted, with eyes closed. Around the neck, head and wrists there are small balls (possibly to represent fruit seeds) thread on string. The doll is holding a sitar made of brown-painted wood and wire. THe sitar is decorated with swirls of green and white paint.

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