This beauty is one of a number of wonderful old carved articulated figures today, this one straight out of an amazing West Coast collection of folk/self-taught/outsider art, and my favorite of all. For me carved figures like are as close to animate as a handmade thing can be, and I always love the process of photographing them--a sort of "getting to know you" experience, through which their very individual personalities (and souls, I would say!) reveal themselves, including through discovering how they are able to bend, move, sit, etc. Here, the hand-dyed, crudely cut (but with hand-stitched hem) thin cotton outfit, faded from red to a sort of salmon pink over many years and worn to shreds in spots, enhances what I see as a wonderful sort pride and even regal-ness to her--and even if one might call that face a but homely, to me it reads as full of fortitude and resilience! I really really love her and find her to be very much alive!
9 3/4" t x 3 1/4" widest. Dress much faded and quite fragile/ threadbare on the back side, really more of a wrap at one shoulder, so one wants to be gentle with her. The nail at the top of her head likely once tethered a scarf or hat, long gone. All joints move as they should, with a wire running between her upper thighs too. She can sit up on her own or on a block or pedestal, etc. as shown. Because of the fragility of the fabric, one wants to get her situated and leave her be.
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