Name: Temperance, Let Freedom Ring
Made by and When: Gloria Young (Phatt Platts), ca. 2008
Material: Polymer clay, paint, cloth, paper, wood, metal, jute, cotton, basket
Marks: Phatt Platts is incised in the side of the doll’s left leg
Height: 10 inches from the top of the flag pole to the base; the doll measures 6-1/2 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Two sculpted painted-black pigtails, black-painted eyes, closed mouth with pink lip color
Clothes: Temperance wears a tea-stained dress with matching pantaloons and a red bandana tied around the neck. The black shoes are molded on. The doll is loosely tied to a bench with jute.
Other: An early example of Gloria Rone’s one-of-a-kind doll creations, this doll diorama represents a formerly enslaved, approximately 8-year-old girl. The doll is seated on a red, white, and blue plaid cushioned wooden bench. “FREEDOM” is handwritten on aged paper attached to the bench base. An image of a horse’s head is above FREEDOM. A stained American flag hangs behind the doll, a crumpled picture of Abraham Lincoln, and a basket of cotton to create the “Let Freedom Ring” theme. The name, Temperance, was assigned by the curator.
Gallery
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Good morning Debbie,
I love the doll and her dress (the clothing of her circumstance and times). Her face is familiar resembling someone with whom you might just have been in conversation at a meeting, at the market, at church… or at Starbucks.
I have an off the record question about the symbology. Why do you suppose the flag is not of those times but instead has stars arranged as they were when last updated in the 1950s? What is being communicated in that choice?
Thank you!
Appreciatively, Marjorie
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Hi Marjorie,
Thank you for your comment and observation. I cannot provide the reason why the artist chose to use a current American flag in this piece. Any answer I provide would be an assumption. Perhaps her interpretive art doll represents the total freedom that Black Americans have not yet realized under the current American flag.
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That does make sense. And “Temperance” indicates moderation which, tragically, is the path the country continues to take relative to doing the work and funding the debt owed. When we move into a place of remediation, freedom will ring as steps toward long awaited justice cease to be denied. Perhaps Gloria Rone will see this post and share more of her process.
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