Name: Wooden Girl by Patti Hale
Made by and When: Patti Hale, 1976
Material: Wood
Marks: (Head) 123BBG-76/Patti Hale (the artist’s signature is inscribed in the wood).
Height: 14 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Black curly wig, brown carved eyes, open smiling mouth with two upper and two lower teeth and a carved tongue
Clothes: Red romper with ruffled sleeves and hemline of the legs; the doll’s watermelon-print overdress is missing.
Other: Made by National Institute of American Doll Artists (NIADA) former member, Patti Hale, who transitioned on March 18, 2010, this very sturdy, all-wood, doll has a pot-belly and can stand alone when the feet are balanced properly (see the last gallery photograph). This doll, whose name is unknown, had a male counterpart dressed in a watermelon-print shirt and red pants that had ragged hems. See the boy here. The use of watermelon print and tattered clothing was often stereotypically used for Black dolls. According to Hale’s NIADA biography, “She especially enjoyed making boy and girl/brother and sister pairs which were dressed in a similar way.” Read more about the artist here.
Gallery
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