Thoughts about primitive dolls

I've often thought about what exactly primitive is. I know the dictionary definition basically says that anything handmade qualifies as primitive. We all know how many ways artists, designers and dollmakers create their dolls.

I was once told primitive dolls look like they were made by a 5 year old who knew nothing about sewing. Well I was once a child beginning to sew and even back when I was 5 years old, I tried to hem my doll dresses. They may have been hemmed with 2 inch long red stitches, but I tried. I tried to make their faces look like real faces. They got mis-matched eyes if I couldn't find 2 buttons alike but I tried to make them similar.

So when I think of a primitive doll; I think that whoever made the doll, where ever in time or place they made it, , did the very best they could with the materials at hand. That's why so many of my dolls have fingers and toes. That's also why I needle sculpt noses and lips as often as I do. There are so many different skill levels, but practice improves your skills. I'm sometimes astonished at how a doll turned out.