Various Souvenir Dolls

Name: Various Souvenir Dolls

Made When: Circa 1960s-1970s

Ecuador: A 6-1/2-inch nuthead doll has arms, body, legs, and feet made of round shells. It has no hair. The attached hat is made of gourds. Attached to its back with twine, is a decorated carved gourd. This figure of a male Ethiopian holds a walking stick and stands on an attached wooden base. A paper label is attached to the top of the base that reads, Ecuador. In the previous owner’s handwriting, “Ecuador, shells, nuts, and gourd / Purchased July 30, 1973 / Grand Lake, Colorado $3.15,” is written on a hang tag.

Ethiopia: A ca. 1960s 10-1/2-inch doll has a sculpted plaster face, painted facial features, and sparse black felt hair glued to the head. Representing an Ethiopian woman, it is dressed in a head scarf or netela and a full-length traditional Ethiopian white cotton dress with embroidered accents and wears white plaster shoes. The previous owner’s handwritten hang tag reads, “U.N. Gift Centre / Ethiopia / 14.90.”

Fulani Woman: A ca. 1960s 10-inch-tall handmade Fulani souvenir doll has leather eyes and mouth, no hair, wears an inverted cone-shaped basket hat, a blue floral-print dress; and a full-length blue wool cape attached with a fringe of beads on a safety pin.

Other: An anonymous woman from Long Island, New York owned this collection of ca. 1960s-1970s souvenir dolls.

Gallery

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