Arts
Delightful dolls
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The Craftella stall at the Good Market is buzzing with activity. Nipuni Wijebandara is busy painting peg dolls in various bright colours while customers examine the finished dolls on sale. What started as a hobby for Nipuni when she was around 13 years old has remained a hobby for this 27-year-old finance professional who paints an average of 20 dolls a week. The difference between then and now perhaps lies in the fact that Nipuni has now turned her hobby into a profitable business.
Wooden peg dolls, sometimes referred to as Dutch dolls, are a type of wooden dolls which originated in Europe. Originally, they would be sold with clothes that were made of fabric but in recent times the clothes have been painted on the dolls. A popular souvenir sold at Sri Lankan gift shops, the colourful men and women in sarong and reddai hatte are perhaps a testament of how far the dolls have travelled from the dainty dolls in lace dresses that they originally were. Nipuni sells dolls from both traditions – with the ‘seeya’ in sarong standing next to a nativity set.
The dolls are made from wooden scraps which are painted and decorated to create the final peg doll. The dolls are designed by Nipuni who then sends the designs to a supplier who obtains the scraps and converts them into dolls by cutting them per the design, which she then buys and paints. The dolls range from Rs. 250 – 750, while a nativity set is sold at Rs. 2900. They are painted with non-toxic acrylic paint, which means that the dolls are child-friendly. Nipuni is open to designing customized dolls and says that she gets business from companies looking for a personalized souvenir, as well as orders from abroad by customers who order online.
Will she start making dolls for a living? “Yes, I have plans to do this full time but I just started working after university so it will be in the future,” replies Nipuni.
Craftella peg dolls can be bought at the Colombo Good Market (Saturdays from 10 – 6 at Racecourse, Colombo 07) and online on shopbox.lk.
Nipuni Wijebandara Pix by M.D. Nissanka