doll

doll

doll

9: RECREATIONAL ARTIFACTS

TOY:

Seminole

Multicolored female doll with striped dress.

Multicolored female doll with striped dress. Head is round and body is conical, both constructed of palmetto fiber bark, sewn with a double-strand of orange embroidery floss and stuffed with unknown fiber. The face is embroidered with a straight red mouth and black and white eyes using multiple strands of embroidery floss. Black cloth, attached to a stiff form (possibly cardboard) represents an elaborate mid twentieth century Seminole women’s hairstyle. A strand of beads is wound twice around the neck and composed of white, yellow, black, orange, red, and green beads in a seemingly random pattern. The doll is dressed in a skirt and cape made of cotton or cotton-poly blend commercially woven fabric. From the bottom the skirt is made of a narrow strip of white fabric hemmed at the bottom with an appliquéd row of rick rack with white thread near the hem seam. The next wider strip is medium gray with yellow rick rack trim appliquéd with white thread. The cape is composed of one strip of yellow with a row of red rick rack trim appliquéd with red thread near the folded bottom edge and a row of dark purple rick rack trim appliquéd with red thread immediately above. The rows of stitching to attach the trim also serve to fasten the hem. The top edges of both the skirt and cape are sewn into the same neck band. The bottom edge of the neck band is folder over and topstitched medium gray with white thread. The top edge of the neck band is unfinished and tucked into the beads. All interior seams are unfinished and all sewing on the clothing is machine stitched. Both garments have a single seam up the back. The palmetto fiber body has no arms and legs.

created for sale to tourists, outsiders /
decorative /
entertainment artifact

5.5” T

5” W

2.5” D

fiber(palmetto bark) cloth(cotton or cotton poly blend) thread(cotton or cotton poly blend) bead (glass) cardboard

sewn(machine) embroid (hand) woven (commercial) dyed (commercial)

costumed (appliqué)

Seminole

excellent

1975-31-0127

2913dl/161

object

FL

USA

NA

2008 DEAC REV: Rachel Biars; 2010 RECAT: Jodine Perkins

2010 RECAT: Compared to 1984-06-0020 and 1973-18-0002, the quality of the sewing and construction is not as good.
Cotton blends would be available in the 1970’s.
General info on dolls see Downs 1995
Information on Synth thread see Wikipedia

Downs, Dorothy. 1995. Art of the Florida Seminole and Miccousulcee Indians. p.211-219.Gainesville: University Press of Florida (on Seminole dolls)

Synthetic Thread: http://en.wikipeda.org/wiki/Synthetic_fiber

Indiana University/Mathers Museum