These cheap souvenir dolls are apsara dancers doing the classic Cambodian ballet. Got them from the night market in Siem Reap. They are probably made in Thailand too. Check out the more expensive versions from Bangkok Dolls.
When I was a kid, my mother caught me playing with a cloth doll under the table. In her rage and fear - or maybe more fear than rage - she snatched the doll away from me and threw it into the fire. I stood in front of the stove and cried, while my doll was being consumed by fire. My mother forbade me to play with dolls.
In my thirties, my mother could not keep me from doing what I want. I started collecting dolls, not exactly to spite her, but to fulfill something I was deprived of as a child. But more than that, I see that dolls are a good way of knowing the world around us. So I collect dolls from different nations, especially folk dolls, puppets, costume and souvenir dolls. My one dream is to open a dolls and toys museum in Antique, Philippines.
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