30s Albanian Greece Greek Near East Industries Kimport

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This is a beautiful vintage Albanian doll representing Albania on the Adriatic coast north of Greece and across from Italy on the Balkan Peninsula. Her costume represents a Muslim girl. In addition to its Greek neighbors, Albania borders Macedonia (Makedonia), Serbia (Srbja) and Montenegro (Crna Gora), all formerly part of the former Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija.) The doll is in very good vintage condition. She was made in the 1930s in Athens Greece, in a refugee aid project called Near East Industries and the Near East Foundation. It was founded to help refugees primarily in the Balkans, but some from a bit farther east along the Mediterranean Sea as well. The dolls were made with amazing loving detail and care, each representing the traditional costume of the lands from which the refugees had recently fled. This exact doll and her boyfriend are featured in the “World Colors Dolls and Dress: Folk and Ethnic Dolls by Susan Hedrick and Vilma Matchette on pages 8 (Albania.) Others in this wonderful series are shown on page 60 (Greece.) See picture below. is an excerpt from the doll description in that book: About the dolls: ... Kimport brought in many of these delightful dolls during the late 1930s and 1940s, making an exception to their rule that any international dolls they sold had to be actually made in the country they represented. The dolls of the Near East Industries were made in Athens Greece by Balkan refugees. The dolls are always charmingly hand-painted with brick-red to rust-red facial colors. Notice that the lips ...are outlined, an extra feature not often found in small dolls made in fairly large numbers. ... Costume Description: Urban style dress of Ottoman influence: kerchief with red trim tied around head; white blouse or chemise with open sleeve edged in gold lace; white full pantaloons in cotton or silk; red velvet sleeveless coat bordered in gold; sheer sash with gold embroidery and slippers or mules.” She also has a striped vest with embroidered trim, and around her ankles the pant-legs are gatd into gold metallic bands. This Albanian girl is one of the most lovely of the Near East Industries “jewels.” She is all stuffed cloth with molded face and exquisitely painted facial features. All of these wonderful dolls are hand made and quite individual, but even so, those of us who collect them recognize a Near East Industries doll face easily in a crowd of dolls. Kimport catalogues of the 1930s show this doll and her boyfriend … I have shown her boyfriend’s ad below. She no longer has her original paper tag, but my identical doll still has his and it says: " Near East Industries My name is Perihan. My costume is Albanian. I am dressed by the refugee women of Athens Greece." Her hands are mitten-shaped. She is in very good vintage condition especially for being 70-some years old. She is very clean and nice. I know that t is a collector out t who will love having her as much as I have. Defects: 1. T is age-related damage to the sleeves ... the delicate fabric has some fraying on the sides. 2. T is some darkening of the fabric of her full-cut pants. 3. She is missing her tag. 4. Her face is beautifully painted, but she does have a little textured area in the fabric beside her nose on her left cheek. Very minor, but I want to point it out. Non-smoking home -- No icky smells. Shipping is $2.85 in the US and Canada. I will ship to any place in the world, but shipping elsew will need to be determined individually. I will happily combine shipping . . . please see my other auctions of ethnic / foreign / regional / cultural / international / folk costumed dolls.. read more

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