Montenegrin dolls

Some years ago I acquired 5 pairs of 8" Narodna Radinost dolls still in their Narodna Radinost labelled boxes  and it is my intention to showcase them over the next few posts. I have already written about the pair from Macedonia (Macedonian dolls) and Slovenia ( Slovenian dolls) and here I am turning my attention to the Montenegrin pair. The pairs from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina will follow.

                 

The dolls from these sets measure just under 8" in  height and are of a quite light weight construction. Cloth over a wire armature, they have hand sewn faces and the men have ears made from small pieces of material. The hands are made of felt with individual fingers and all the dolls have dark hair.

The female doll has a black veil,indicating she is married. This veil is nicely decorated with small black sequins. Her shirt, or kosulja, is made of a thin transparent material with stripes woven in. Over that she wears a fitted red woollen bolero jacket and a long sleeveless vest in aqua which is embroidered with the gold cord common to the Balkans. Her flared skirt is made of a silky cream coloured material under which is a petticoat and bloomers. 

The metal belt is typical of the region and here simple golden braid with the addition of  beads is used to replicate what in real life are often very elaborate metal belts with chains and coloured stones.

The male doll wears a red hat with a black band and gold thread embroidered detail on top. Over his white shirt he wears a waist length long sleeved jacket with thick gold thread at the front. To finish is another jacket with slits in the arms which enable the sleeves to hang down the back. At his waist he has a colourful sash or trombolos. The trousers are blue and very roomy and taper down to his white socks and white leather opanci.