Montenegrin female dolls

In 1959 the Kimport doll company,that famous American importer of quality souvenir dolls, announced the arrival of Hamilear and Helene in the pages of its doll catalogue Doll Talk. Sold as a bride and groom the pair are described as fine examples of the Yugoslav doll range with their high quality workmanship and materials. In the last post I looked at the male Montenegrin dolls so let us turn to the female dolls.

The female dolls representing Montenegro wear a fitted red woollen felt bolero trimmed with gold thread over a white shirt trimmed at the cuffs with lace. In some of the dolls the shirt is sheer.The shirt has a colourful band of red,yellow and blue embroidery down the front which would be sewn on a detachable piece of material in the human version. The flared skirt is made of a white silk-like fabric and underneath, as is the case with all the Narodna Radinost dolls, a lace trimmed petticoat and bloomers are worn. A long sleeveless vest is worn over the top in aqua or green and is embroidered with the gold cord common to the Balkans. A gold belt is worn around the waist and the shoes are leather.

The pillbox hat in red with black trim is worn by unmarried women and often decorated with a design in gold thread. The black veil is worn by married women.

Beautiful gold thread detail