Tuesday, October 28, 2008

American Indian Dolls


Do you love dolls, even though you're completely grown up? The doll on the left is a Jingle Wacipi doll created for me by my friend Suzan Ablaya of Germany. The doll is wearing the ceremonial dress of a Jingle Dancer. When the dancer moves the sound harkens to gentle rain falling, and the dancer brings honor to her family.
The middle doll was found at the Brimfield Antique Show and was created by the couple who made all the American Indian artifacts for the film "Dances With Wolves". Her dress is an exact replica of the dresses decorated with shells, which are still worn in ceremonies today.
The third dress, covered with a beautifully beaded upside down American Flag on the shoulders, is a replica of an antique dress which I fell in love with and had Suzan interpret in this doll. Her methods of doll making are exactly to the specifications of the antique dresses. She uses the same type of treated leather, shell, beads, and buffalo, human, and horse hair. Her stitching is superb and each doll is a masterpiece.

4 comments:

Linda O'Neill said...

Wow, what intricate work. The dolls are really beautiful.

Hope all is well, Beverly!

Beverly Kaye said...

Thanks Linda. One of my friends, who builds all the displays at the Peabody Museum in New Haven, is going to build me proper stands for them this Winter. I'm very excited about that project!

jafabrit said...

yes, I love dolls which is funny because I wasn't a kid that was into dolls much. I went to the Native American Museum in DC earlier this year and drooled over the dolls in the exhibit there. These one's a lovely and how lovely to be sent one :)

thanks for visiting my blog :) thanks for the reminder about Judith Scotts work. I visited her website,what a story and her work.

Beverly Kaye said...

I only had a couple when I was small. Raggedy Ann and Andy, and I was presented with a larger scary one when my sister was born. Whatever I needed at that point was not a doll as big as I. But gifts given in love are love, so I kept her for many years.