Indian Display Doll

This Indian display doll shows the wedding sari for a bride. Red is the color of good fortune and fertility.

The doll is wearing a bodice piece of shisha embroidery. Shisha is the Indian word for mirror. Shisha glass is available in a variety of shapes including round, square and triangular. Sizes vary from large to tiny. There are no holes in the mirror glass so it has to be held in place with a framework of stitches over which decorative stitches are worked.

The doll also shows facial jewelry. In India, brides often have their nostrils pierced for their wedding jewelry. The outside of the left nostril is the preferred position of the piercing as this is supposed to make childbirth easier. In India, piercings were regarded as a mark of beauty and social standing as well as a Hindu's honor to Parvati, the goddess of marriage. Nose piercing is still popular in India. In Maharastra, women wear very large nose pieces that often cover the mouth or the side of the face as is shown by this doll.
Source:
http://www.ehow.com/about_6776019_traditional-indian-wedding-sarees.html http://www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/projects/shisha/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nose_piercing