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Bébé in Tartan Costume
Bébé in Tartan Costume
Bébé in Tartan Costume

Bébé in Tartan Costume

Artist (French, 1843 - 1910)
Dateabout 1885
OriginFrance
MediumBisque head, glass eyes, mohair hair, composition and wood body, jointed; wool, velvet, silk embroidery, and cotton lace dress; knit stockings; kid shoes (signed); silk hat
Dimensions19 in. (48.3 cm)
ClassificationsDoll
Credit LineGift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
Object number2018.5
Label TextJumeau & Cie., (French, 1843–1910) Émile-Louis Jumeau, (French), designer Bébé in Tartan Costume Bisque head, glass eyes, mohair hair, composition and wood body, jointed; wool, velvet, silk embroidery, and cotton lace dress; knit stockings; kid shoes (signed); silk hat. Mark: Déposé Tête Jumeau 8 (on head), about 1885 Promised gift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III French black dolls were sought-after by European and American buyers alike. In 1884, Jumeau & Cie. created a Créole lady doll for the Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans. Their dolls were fashionably dressed in the popular styles of the time, and often had well-made and mature forms. This luxurious doll is wearing an original wool dress in a Scottish Mackintosh tartan pattern. Tartan patterns traveled with the African diaspora, from Scotland to Kenya, South Africa, on to the Caribbean, passing through India (as printed Madras cotton and muslin), and on to the United States along the way. Remarkably, she is wearing a silk headscarf tied into an elaborate coiffe in Caribbean fashion.
Status
Not on view