La última muñeca (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
for "the last doll") is a tradition of the ''
Quinceañera
A (also , , , and ) is a celebration of a girl's 15th birthday. It has pre-Columbian roots in Mexico (Aztecs) and is widely celebrated by girls throughout Latin America. The girl celebrating her 15th birthday is a (; gender (linguistics), ...
'', the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
. During this ritual the ''quinceañera'' relinquishes a doll from her childhood to signify that she is no longer in need of such a toy, often giving it to a younger female relative. The ritual could also suggest that she is now capable of being a mother.
[''Girl Culture: an Encyclopedia''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. . P.495] The ''chambalán de honor'' is a person designated to "present her to society" and is usually the one to give her the ''última muñeca'' as well. The birthday girl will then dance with the
doll
A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...
as part of the ceremony. Some of the dolls used in the ceremony are made of elegant ceramic or
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
and are hand painted. These collector’s dolls are highly sought after on the collector’s market.
References
Traditional dolls
{{Doll-stub