Primitive Folk Art Doll Figurine

Above you'll see a gift my husband gave me (which I picked out at the local antiques mall). I love this doll figurine. About the 10th time I visited this primitive guy in the glass case I knew I wanted to buy him as a gift to myself from my husband.

What's to love about this guy, you ask? The figurine, not the husband ;-). Well, first of all, the tag said he came from an attic in Searsport, Maine. I'm descended from folks from Searsport, so that little nugget caught my eye. He's carved in one piece head to toe and his arms are nailed in so that they have some slight movement. I think they once were able to go down but because of the splitting and warping of the body it restricts downward movement. He is carved either from a buoy, or a newel post, or driftwood. Hard to tell. But water has been part of this guy's history. He kind of reminds me of a character from Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. If you look closely you can see eyebrows, and there are marks on the sides of the head to indicate ears.

I've tried to imagine who made him, and here are my current choices. A young boy just learning to whittle? A granddaddy making a present for a grandson or granddaughter?

A sailor or fisherman? Maybe he was the mascot in some sea captain's cabin? That's probably not true, because the carvings done by seamen are usually exquisite.

So I've settled on it being a present that an older brother just learning to whittle made for his little sister.

3 comments:

Deanna Hogan said...

Dixie, I think he's charming. What a great find!

Deanna

Sandy Mastroni said...

Love him Did you name him ?
How about Maurice .

Dixie Redmond said...

Ooooh. Maurice is a great name for him!


"Do not let what you cannot do
keep you from doing what you can do."

John Wooden