Summary

National doll produced to represent an Indian woman. It was sent to Monica Gates, by Mrs. S. M. Mhatre, Junior Field Officer, Pilot Centre for Character Indian Dolls, All India Handicrafts Board, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India in 1962. The doll is wearing a sari or saree, which is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. It is popular in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, and Malaysia. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder baring the midriff.

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, cloth, Indian female. She is dressed in a green cotton sari with white polka dots throughout and a lace edge. She has an orange under shirt with short sleeves. She is wearing a white and red bead necklace, bead earrings and bead bracelets on each wrist. She has a paper flower in her hair and is mounted on a square, black wooden base.

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