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Ritchie Sisters’ Corn-Shuck Dolls

Privacy Level: Open (White)
Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Perry, Kentucky, United Statesmap
Surname/tag: Ritchie
This page has been accessed 133 times.

May Belle Ritchie and her sisters Kitty, Mallie, Edna and Jewel were known for their corn-shuck dolls, of which they made thousands. One that May Belle made as a gift for her sister Jean is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

These dolls are made of the husks or shucks of corn cobs, with raffia for hair. The husks are dried and dyed, then shaped into the doll form. The heads are stuffed with cotton, and the faces are hand painted, which was a specialty of Mallie’s. The arms have a wire armature, which makes them posable.

Some Examples of Their Work

Pine Mountain Settlement School collection. https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=58260

Corn-shuck doll holding a dulcimer made by May Bell Ritchie Deschamps for her sister Jean, now in the collection of the Smithsonian. https://www.si.edu/object/nmah_1803605

Corn-shuck doll made by May Belle Ritchie Deschamps, in possession of Berea College. https://ljacatc.berea.edu/pawtucket/index.php/Detail/objects/9699

Corn-shuck doll made by Edna Ritchie Baker, now in possession of the Kentucky Historical Society. https://kyhistory.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/BC7C4F20-7C14-4C2A-BB54-526845684279

Corn-shuck doll made by Sally Yates, a niece of the Ritchie sisters; formerly in the collection of Jean Ritchie, now in the collection of Berea College. https://ljacatc.berea.edu/pawtucket/index.php/Detail/objects/9698

Two corn-shuck dolls made by May Belle Ritchie Deschamps. https://www.prices4antiques.com/Artist-Signed-Doll-2-Deschamp-MR-Corn-Shuck-Women-Hats-Baskets-Umbrellas-10-inch-D9989562.html

Abigail Ritchie, the girls’ mother, making a corn-shuck doll. https://www.gettyimages.co.nz/detail/news-photo/mrs-abigail-ritchie-of-viper-kentucky-making-a-collection-news-photo/3347547?adppopup=true

Corn-shuck dolls made by Paula Kermiet, daughter of Pauline Ritchie Kermiet. https://www.socalfolkdance.org/master_teachers/connolly_p.htm

Background Reading

Country Miles are Longer Than City Miles; an Important Document in the Art and Social History of Americana, by Craig Evan Royce. AuthorHouse, 2006. Chapter 3: Hands That Still Sing the Great Ballads of Youth: Mallie Ritchie and Kitty Ritchie Singleton. https://books.google.com/books?id=C8aVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT50&lpg=PT50&dq=Ritchie+cornhusk+dolls&source=bl&ots=uyBO1bWPmL&sig=ACfU3U3-7c6f5A2XNguwyJpA05rkmjANRw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiC4rW7nLOAAxVkOUQIHfhGBp84FBDoAXoECAUQAw#v=onepage&q=Ritchie%20cornhusk%20dolls&f=false

Cornhusk Crafts - A history of cornhusk/corn shuck dolls https://www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/CraftRevival/crafts/Cornhusks.html

Ritchie Cornhusk Dolls, A Family Tradition, by Sally Yates. Blurb, Inc. 2021. https://www.blurb.com/b/10643016-ritchie-cornhusk-dolls





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