Vintage Egyptian Wooden Spindle Dolls | Hand-Painted Hand-Turned Vibrant Mid Century Folk Art

$36.50
"Home is not where you were born. Home is where all your attempts to escape cease." - Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk

This pair of vintage hand-painted spindle dolls is a vibrant example of Egyptian heritage craft. Created as souvenirs for travelers visiting Cairo and the Nile Delta, they have captured a bygone period of history and culture with lasting artistry. Their details serve as symbolic representations of traditional Nile Valley life, rural village authority and religious devotion.

• made of hand-painted wood in the 1960s or 1970s

• each is draped in a traditional Galabeya, a traditional Egyptian loose-fitting ankle-length robe

• the Tarboosh (red hat | "fez") is a masculine symbol of classical Egyptian heritage

• the Misbaha (traditional coin necklaces), stylized neckline wheat patterns and strings of prayer beads represent everyday spiritual life and local village costume history

• the Assaya (traditional walking sticks or canes used particularly by village elders for walking and herding) personified authority, masculinity and social standing | they were also used in the practice of Tahtib, an ancient Egyptian martial art and folk dance

• approximate dimensions: man in blue is 7.5” tall x 1.5” wide at the base | man in mauve is 8” tall x 1.375” wide at the base
"Home is not where you were born. Home is where all your attempts to escape cease." - Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk

This pair of vintage hand-painted spindle dolls is a vibrant example of Egyptian heritage craft. Created as souvenirs for travelers visiting Cairo and the Nile Delta, they have captured a bygone period of history and culture with lasting artistry. Their details serve as symbolic representations of traditional Nile Valley life, rural village authority and religious devotion.

• made of hand-painted wood in the 1960s or 1970s

• each is draped in a traditional Galabeya, a traditional Egyptian loose-fitting ankle-length robe

• the Tarboosh (red hat | "fez") is a masculine symbol of classical Egyptian heritage

• the Misbaha (traditional coin necklaces), stylized neckline wheat patterns and strings of prayer beads represent everyday spiritual life and local village costume history

• the Assaya (traditional walking sticks or canes used particularly by village elders for walking and herding) personified authority, masculinity and social standing | they were also used in the practice of Tahtib, an ancient Egyptian martial art and folk dance

• approximate dimensions: man in blue is 7.5” tall x 1.5” wide at the base | man in mauve is 8” tall x 1.375” wide at the base