Cotton and ceramic doll, 'Paduang Belle'

Smiling with pride, this doll represents the customs and traditions of the Paduang people. To them, the beauty of a woman lies in the length of her neck and the number of rings she wears around it. Suwit Suthamtha crafts the doll's head and limbs of ceramic, and her traditional attire is sewn of cotton. Suthamtha shapes the body with wire and makes a filing of kapok seeds. The jewelry is made of aluminum. Although the Paduang are considered to be a group within the Karen, they do not speak any of their three languages. The Paduangs mainly live in Burma and a few have migrated to Northern Thailand. Paduang women are renowned for their foot-long necks adorned with up to 16 to 20 brass or silver rings, and they also wear up to 30 rings around their calves, for they believe the number of rings is a measure of their beauty.