Croatian dolls

This 8" female stockinette over wire armature doll wears a costume from the Prigorje region around the Croatian capital Zagreb in the country's northwest. The Prigorje costume is a popular one and is often found on the general range of souvenir dolls from Croatia available to collectors.

She wears a  white cotton blouse which is embroidered in red and blue on the bodice and cuffs. A pleated apron with matching embroidery is worn over the white cotton skirt. At the waist is an embroidered  cloth belt and a simple polka dot handkerchief . A matching handkerchief adorns the head. White stockings are worn with red woolen ties below the knees. The shoes are the stand out feature for me, made of brown leather and with red trim. Sadly she does not have a version of the wonderful vest common to this costume. Other ranges of Croatian  female souvenir dolls do wear them, probably this is the summer version of the costume. The postcard below by the great Croatian artist Vladimir Kirin shows a version with the vest.

For those interested, this doll is featured in Polly and Pam Judd's European Costumed Dolls Identification and Price Guide Hobby House Press, Maryland 1994. People who love souvenir dolls will find this book has a lot of valuable material.

Vladimir Kirin postcard

Postcard from Zagreb