(The item for sale may differ slightly from the doll in the photograph)
(The item for sale may differ slightly from the doll in the photograph)
I found these dolls at Yagua villages along the Amazon River as I traveled by hammock boat between Iquitos, Peru and Leticia, Colombia. They are typical of the craftwork one sees along the river.
These dolls are about 18 inches tall and are made from natural materials. The skirts are make from the aguaje palm, Mauritia flexuosa, the grass-like material the Yaguas use for their ceremonial clothes. The head is usually constructed from a calabash gourd, Lagenaria siceraria. Typical Yagua beadwork using seeds from the rosario tree Coix lacryma-jobi and thread from the chambira palm, Astrocaryum chambira, decorate the doll's necklace. The necklace also contains jawbones from a small piranha or a fin from the turushuqui fish.
These pieces would make a fine addition to a collection of ethnic dolls.