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Description

Doll representing a woman carrying a baby. Doll is made of brown fabric and has short black hair. Her facial features are stitched on with thread. She has long thin eyebrows, small eyes, a straight nose and smiling mouth. Eyebrows are done in black, eyes are white and black, nose and mouth done in pink. She is wearing a Basotho-style hat, woven out of plant fibre. The hat is conical with a wide circular brim and loop on top. Hat is stitched to head along forehead. She is dressed in a white short sleeve blouse and red skirt. Both items have curvilinear designs across them, done in black. Skirt also has floral motifs and repeating pattern of Basotho-style hats. Skirt has a back opening and a manufacturer’s mark(?) is printed along the bottom edge. Woman has a white, yellow and brown checkered and striped blanket wrapped around her shoulders, secured with a safety pin. Tucked in the blanket, on her back, is a baby covered in a white and green geometric patterned cloth, with a central house design. Baby is made from brown fabric and has small eyes and a smiling mouth stitched on in white thread. Doll is attached to a white metal stand.

Narrative

The doll was produced by Basotho women as part of an income-generating initiative. Retail spaces included a handicraft market in Lesotho’s capital city, Maseru. The doll was acquired in the Kingdom of Lesotho, between 1984-1986, when the donor was working as a volunteer for World University Service of Canada.

Iconographic Meaning

The doll is a generic representation of a Mosotho woman c. 1985. Her attire includes a blouse and skirt made of 'seshoeshoe' cloth (a printed, dyed cotton fabric widely used in traditional clothing) and a blanket. She also wears a traditional Basotho hat. The clothing items were typical of those worn by Basotho women at the time the doll was purchased.