NKM KP OF-564/3
GK No. 6487136
A khekhe doll is a cult object, a home (family) patron of Nenets women
Place: the Timanskaya tundra
Date: late 19th - early 20th centuries
Material: broadcloth, metal, deer fur, half-woollen thread, woollen thread, plastic, deer tendon threads, braid, cotton fabric, silk
Technique: casting, handmade, stamping
Dimensions: 20.0 x 27.0 x 10.0 cm
Before giving birth, a midwife took a figurine of myad' pukhutsya in her hands, untied her clothes and spun it over a woman in labour. During childbirth, the woman pressed the doll to her stomach. The doll also helped in case of a serious illness. To treat illnesses it was placed at the patient's bedhead. If they wanted to know about the outcome of a disease, they took the doll in their arms and weighed it. According to the weight, they predicted either recovery or death.
During migrations, female dolls were transported either in female sledges (ne khan) or in cargo ones (vata or wandako).
According to the Nenets tradition, if a new family settles in a new separate chum, a woman gives birth to her first child with the assistance of her mother-in-law's myad’ pukhutsa and then sews her own.