Seminole. Doll Wearing Seminole Woman's Outfit, ca. 1940. Cotton, palmetto fiber, silk, beads, paper, 20 1/2 × 11 × 5 3/16 in. (52.1 × 27.9 × 13.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 41.222. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 41.222_PS9.jpg)
Seminole. Doll Wearing Seminole Woman's Outfit, ca. 1940. Cotton, palmetto fiber, silk, beads, paper, 20 1/2 × 11 × 5 3/16 in. (52.1 × 27.9 × 13.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 41.222. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.222_acetate_bw.jpg)
Doll Wearing Seminole Woman's Outfit
Arts of the Americas
Seminole dolls evolved from simple children’s playthings in the nineteenth century to elaborate tourist souvenirs by the 1930s. As their market transformed, Seminole doll makers continued to respect cultural taboos about representation by limiting facial features. Like Vili artists who carved souvenir tusks on the Loango Coast, Seminole artists carefully replicated clothing, foregrounding this cultural aspect for outsiders. The dolls faithfully represent changing Seminole fashions in clothing and hairstyles. This large example wears an elaborate dress, cape, and glass-bead necklaces. Its smooth, fabric-covered hairstyle and colorful patchwork suggest it was made in the 1940s. Seminole souvenir dolls remain sources of income and artistic pride for makers and their families.
CULTURE
Seminole
MEDIUM
Cotton, palmetto fiber, silk, beads, paper
DATES
ca. 1940
DIMENSIONS
20 1/2 × 11 × 5 3/16 in. (52.1 × 27.9 × 13.2 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER
41.222
CREDIT LINE
A. Augustus Healy Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Fully dressed doll with a palmetto fiber base, colorful patchwork skirt, green cape, necklaces of blue and black beads, black hat, and earrings. This type of doll was created extensively for the burgeoning tourist market during the early 1900s.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Seminole. Doll Wearing Seminole Woman's Outfit, ca. 1940. Cotton, palmetto fiber, silk, beads, paper, 20 1/2 × 11 × 5 3/16 in. (52.1 × 27.9 × 13.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 41.222. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 41.222_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 41.222_PS9.jpg., 2019
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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