Beautiful Black Folk Art Stockinette Doll with Astrakhan Hair New England native basket Surely it was the head/tip

Surely it was the head/tip of an old tool of some sort

were not made by prisoners to sell

in front of a thousand eyes

and possibly Tutsi

Beautiful Black Folk Art Stockinette Doll with Astrakhan Hair New England native basket Surely it was the head/tipA beautiful, very tender feeling doll I think, which I believe dates to sometime between about 1910 and 1930. Her head and body were made of of black knit stocking firmly stuffed, with separate rolled pieces for her arms and legs, which were hand stitched to the torso. Hand embroidered black eyes, red nose and slightly open red mouth, adding up to a face that makes her feel to me keenly observant if a bit wary. Her hair is astrakhan (lambs wool, still