Princess Suhana: as dazzling and regal as the star that is her namesake. She is an incomparable beauty of the Orient, dressed in Indian brocade and exotic jewelry. Her wrapped dress, draped in the style of a
sari, is made of a chocolaty plum silken fabric shot with gold: an intricate floral design woven on the
achal. Her jewelry is accented in faux turquoise. Her hair is arranged in a braided chignon, but most of her thick shimmery copper curls flow freely about her shoulders.
In Hindi, Suhana means
beautiful; in Arabic, it is the name of a star. Princess Suhana will grace a Persian Harem as befittingly as she would an Indian Palace.
I had a wonderful time making this doll, but the journey has been strange to say the least. When I started out, I was quite set on making a blond beauty wearing a Regency styled gown. I had even set aside the goldenrod chiffon fabric for the dress, and made yellow polymer clay roses to make into a bouquet. But when the doll was ready to be adorned, it was almost like she insisted on wearing a different dress: very much like the princess she is! I had been saving this fabric for later, but had to give in. She preferred copper curls to blond that I had in mind for her. And she
had to have all the jewelry: even the anklets although they are normally covered up by her long skirt.
For a long time now, I have been looking at the film-still from Devdas and dying to create a doll inspired by Parvati played by the beautiful Aishwarya Rai.
Parvati is dressed in a classic Bengali style: a peacock-blue sari embellished in jewel tones. Her hands and feet are painted in alta, a very traditional adornment used by the women of Bengal. Her ornaments include necklaces, bangles, earrings, anklets, ring and tiara.
