After discovering the class disparity in shopping in high end malls compared to the low end street vendors, we began discovering individual artisans who create for their culture. By this I mean, those talented few who create beautiful things that represent the values–perhaps the soul–of their people. The products found in a particular home workshop in San Cristobal, a town adjacent to Santo Domingo, seem to be just that. I’ve given the contact information on my post, “Why Call Dominos the National Game?”
Behind this interesting cast-iron fence, the neighbor’s yellow dog ever vigilant above, craftsmen of all ages create doll parts in a myriad of colors and styles in a multi-class neighbourhood.
- Rolling the heads plus music
- Heads with scarves
- Creating the skirts
- Applying Detail
- Drying the dolls
Made of a lightweight compound, the blank-faced little dolls are surprisingly durable. They come in a variety of skin tones, hair colors, and sizes. The little girls wear brilliantly colored dresses and bows and flowers and frills.
- Singer doll in white – front
- Singer doll in white – rear
- Parasol doll – front
- Parasol doll – rear
Most interesting to us were the Victoria line because of its apparent historical derivations. In our living room, the Victoria-with-vegetables doll holds a place of honor.
- Victoria with vegetables – front
- Victoria with vegetables – rear
- Victoria with flowers
We also loved the nativity sets available in various lively colors. Some sets include wooden structures above the figures. Some designs involve much larger figures and many more characters are depicted. We photographed some of the figures you see here on our visit to place an order, and the others when we picked up our order. The home workshop doesn’t have a regular display area and we saw new versions of boxes, nativities, and dolls each time we came.
- Nativity with angel above
- Nativity with kings and angel
- Nativity set
- Two nativity sets
The angels in white come in several variations, some to stand and others to hang on the tree. The little red Santa girls, also drying on a tray outside, look completely festive, don’t they?
- Angels drying on the patio
- Christmas dolls drying on the patio
The artisans also work with wood and create well-made boxes, trays, and domino sets of all sorts and sizes. If you feel like a tourist that day, you can purchase a tray with a tropical picture enameled on it. I prefer my sandal wood plain, thanks.
- Dominoes in parquet box
- Personalized boxes
So enjoy learning more about the country and the culture via your blogs. I can hardly wait to visit! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading. Your visit can’t come soon enough!