More Dolls

Due to the interest shown after the previous post I have been encouraged to delve into the cabinet again. 

This is a Sinhalese Devil Dancer - the different head masks have various attributions - dragons, cobras, birds etc. The Devil Dance was a unique practice in the southern part of Sri Lanka. It was performed to free a person or place from demons, evil spirits or bad luck caused by malignant spirits. It was also done to cure a patient from certain ailments. 
This doll wasn't bought when we visited Sri Lanka last June, but was purchased 40 years ago following a visit by my husband.

These two dolls came from Cuba. Whenever we could we have bought dolls made and sold by local artisans and not manufactured dolls, but of course, that is not always possible. Handmade dolls, on the whole, tend to have more character and authenticity about them.

 The majority of our dolls were actually bought by my husband when he travelled the world for the UN. Apart from enjoying seeing them the dolls were a way of giving our two sons, who were very young at the time, a sense of the people and the places that he visited.

This doll comes from Monrovia, Liberia. This handmade doll depicts a Monrovia lady carrying her baby on her back whilst crushing grain. Life In Monrovia is extremely tough, Malaria is rife, and recently they have had that terrible outbreak of Ebola.

These dolls were handcrafted in a Romanian Communist co-operative and represent various different regions in the country. They have a particular charm but belie the terrible situation in Romania for most of the population. We visited at a time when Nicolae Ceauşescu was the President, but neither we, nor the wider world, had any idea about the corrupt regime he administered until the uprising that happened several years after our visit. 

To finish some British dolls. Although manufactured in a small doll specialist company owned by Peggy Nisbet, each and every doll was individually designed by her. No longer produced, her last doll was made 20 years ago. 

I was asked the size of these dolls and on the whole most of the dolls are about 8/9 inches (20/23cms) tall - some are a bit smaller and some slightly larger.
I will not be showing any more dolls - there are far too many still lurking in the cabinet.