Postcards with images of French dolls in regional attires – a graphic source on the history of traditional constume

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of postcards with images of dolls in the regional costumes of France. The visual appearance of the postcards, the nature of the images, and dolls’ garments have been analysed. The source base of the research is the author's philocartical collection, which is a part of the personal collection of ethnographic dolls "Peoples and attires". Single and serial postcards issued throughout the 20th century recorded the existence of exquisite, perfectly made miniature people, which makes these publications a historical source. Some of the postcards were printed for advertising purposes and reflected the products of a particular company; others captured museum and private collections. The postcards demonstrate a variety of regional costumes, the main details of which, although similar throughout the territory of France, differed in colour, shape or finishing details in each historical region, city, canton, and commune. A comparison of a real and a doll costume shows some conventionality of the latter and the fact that the creators focused on hats. The dolls reflect the following features of costume making: handwork, the use of natural fabrics and lace – the results of work by artisans of different specialties. With some reservations, postcards with images of costume dolls can be viewed as visual materials for studying costumes from different regions of France, as well as an important graphic source on this issue.