Name: Zulu Woman and Baby
Made by and When: The Dumela Doll, circa 1990s
Material: (Woman) Porcelain head, breastplate, lower arms, and lower legs; the body, upper arms, and upper legs are stuffed loosely with plastic pellets. (Baby) porcelain head, white cloth body, wool blanket.
Marks: (Body tag) THE DUMELA DOLL® / HANDMADE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Height: 14 and 3 inches, respectively
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: (Woman) Wears a Zulu hat (or isicholo) that covers the head, sculpted brown eyes; smiling mouth with painted dark red lips, has dimpled cheeks; (baby) sculpted black hair, sculpted closed eyes, closed mouth with full lips
Clothes and Accessory: (Woman) Brown with orange leaf-print sewn-on one-piece top and pants, colorful beaded bib necklace, bare feet; (baby) wrapped in a gold wool blanket; the straw mat was included with the woman. The baby was sold separately.
Other: “The beauty, warmth and adaptability of the women of Africa [is] the inspiration for the Dumela Doll, which is loosely based on five different tribes found in Southern Africa; Swazi, Tswana, Zulu, Xhosa and Pedi (The Dumela Doll). This doll pair represents a Zulu woman and baby. “The [Zuluz] hail from Kwazulu-Natal and are probably the largest ethnic group in South Africa.” (The Dumela Doll).
Made by South African women, the company’s goal focused on creating employment opportunities for South African women.
This doll was a gift to the museum from Alison Seevak on behalf of her late mother, Elinor Seevak.
Reference
Gallery
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