Uzbek dolls

Dolls in Uzbekistan are more than just a simple toy for children. Since ancient times, theatrical performances of traveling masquerade puppeteers have been one of the brightest and favorite entertainments of rural and urban residents. The craft of making dolls has been almost lost, but in the last 20 years a revival of this unusual craft has begun.
Dolls in Uzbekistan were made of wood, ceramics, straw and reeds. Different types of dolls have come down to our time: glove dolls, puppet dolls. They are made of painted papier-mache, wood, clay. Clothes for dolls are sewn from fabrics made in the national style. The craftsmen have their own traditional technology of cutting clothes and embroidery.
Today, dolls dressed in national costumes have become a traditional Uzbek souvenir that can be used not only as a toy, but also as an interesting, bright interior detail. They represent various folk types or heroes of literary works.
Every doll, from a simple rag doll to a porcelain one, can be called a work of art without exaggeration. Master puppeteers pay special attention to the smallest details of doll costumes, using natural Uzbek fabrics, velvet, leather, and even doodle.
The dolls of the Tashkent master Nasiba Akhmedova invariably amaze with the quality of their execution. The dolls have chiseled, amazingly beautiful, warm faces and hands. There is a whole musculoskeletal system in the body of each doll, which allows small people to change the tilt of the head and body, move their arms and legs, and take very expressive, humanly emotional poses. Each doll represents costumes of different regions and nationalities of Uzbekistan and neighboring countries.
Porcelain dolls by Dilbar Isakova can be called masterpieces of doll art. Interesting and unusual are the dolls of Nasib Esirgalova from the Payaryk district of the Samarkand region, the Bukhara master Iskander Khakimov, who created more than a hundred amazing dolls - heroes of Uzbek and oriental folk tales from papier mache, the Khiva puppet master Mansur Kuriyazov, as well as his countryman M. Matyakubov.