Cotton and porcelain dolls, 'Lahu in Love' (pair)
Price: $47.95
Renowned as hunters, the Lahu dress in colorful garments for special celebrations. The women wear a red and black sarong and a white cloth on their head. Silver and beaded jewelry complement their captivating attires. The men wear loose shirt and pants, usually with blue motifs. Suwit Suthamtha masterfully recreates the Lahu dress code for this exquisite pair of dolls. The Lahu, or also Musur, live in northern Thailand and take pride in their hunting abilities. The Lahu are animists and believe one spirit controls all the others, although 30% of them have converted to Christianity. Lahu are independent people and love entertainment and the easy life. Due to economic hardships, Lahu women have improved their skills in weaving on back straps and on foot treadle looms. Lahu weaves are characterized by the fact that the pattern solely appears on one side of the cloth. Lahu women also produce delicate and colorful patchwork appliqu?, banding and scalloping, and embroidery; they use silver half-sphere buttons to embellish their attires. These dolls are entirely hand-crafted by Suthamtha. They feature a wire skeleton and a ceramic body to facilitate movement into a desired pose. The woman's face is shaped of porcelain while the man's is made of ceramic. Their expressive faces are delicately painted by hand. The clothes are recreated from cotton and Dacron cloth; the jewelry is made of aluminum and colorful plastic beads. 70% cotton, 30% Dacron. Please note, that since the flowers are made with whatever material is available, their color may differ to the one viewed in this picture.