Tragacanth is a natural gum obtained by drying sap of several species of Middle Eastern Legumes of the genus Astragalus. Some of these plants are known under the common names of ¨goat`s thorn¨and ¨loccoweed¨. The gum is known by other names including Shiraz gum, referring to its abundance in Iran, it is also widely known and available in Turkey too. In Turkish it is called ¨kitre¨. This gum is used in various traditional artforms in Turkey including marbling art (ebru) and doll making (kitre dolls).

Kitre doll making is one of the traditional art forms of Turkey. They are made using cotton, fabrics, wire and kitre gum as adhesive. Kitre dolls reflect various aspects of Turkish culture in their accurate portrayal of clothing and other visual cues reflecting where they are from and the time period of their character. The dolls also reflect the body proportions appropriate to the age of the character they represent.

Kitre doll making is a long and painstaking task. The basic shape of the dolls body is sewn from fabric. The skeleton is constructed from wires and the body is tightly filled with cotton to attain a realistic look. Afterwards the body extremities and face are constructed. The facial features can be stitched when constructing the body or it can be built layer by layer using thin strips of cotton and diluted kitre gum as adhesive. The extremities are formed using cotton and diluted kitre.

For constructing the extremities, a thin strip of cotton is saturated with diluted kitre adhesive and laid around of the wire forming the core of the extremity being constructed. After all extremities are built and attached to the wires forming the skeleton the doll is painted to reflect the desired tan color. Afterwards handmade clothes are sewn for the dolls and they are dressed.