Friday, May 29, 2020

Black Artists, Designers, and Makers of Black Dolls

Dolls by African American artists/manufacturer: Lorna Miller Sands, Lorna Paris, Gloria Young Rone, Floyd Bell, Goldie Wilson, Shindana Toys

This is not an all-inclusive list of current and past Black artists, designers, and makers of black dolls, so if you know of other Black artists who make black dolls, please leave their names or company names in a comment.  The names are in alpha order. Additional names provided by Karen Oyekanmi have been added with the doll artist's email address only.

CURRENT BLACK ARTISTS/DOLL MAKERS

ABBDA 

Afrikashyne
Medium: Vinyl
Website: https://afrikashyne.com/product-category/dolls/ini-dolls/

Angel Hugs 4 All (Angela Huggins)
Medium: Cloth

Beautiful Blessings
Medium: Vinyl (full-figured 12-inch fashion dolls)
Website: https://www.iamabeautifulblessing.com/

Beed, Dr. Linda - author, children’s minister and dollmaker - lindaonassignment@yahoo.com

Bell, Floyd
Media: Wood, resin

Bell, Makeda, MakeDaArt
- Makedaart@gmail.com

Beloved Reborns (Tiarra Shante Venter)
Media: Vinyl and silicone reborns and reroots

Biankha and Friends Dolls (Based in the UK)
Medium: Vinyl (13.4-inch fashion doll)
Website: https://www.biankhaandfriends.com/

Black, Lillian - lblackdolls@gmail.com

Bloodworth, Marilyn
Media: Cloth, Liquache

Bourgeois, Anna - annabourgeois42@gmail.com

Bradley, Vickie - vickiebradley1@verizon.net

Brains and Beauty Dolls
Media: Vinyl and cloth 18-inch talking dolls for children

Brooklyn Dollworks (Valerie Gladstone)
Media: Mixed media art dolls

Bryant, Shawn and Simpson, Phyllis
- sjawnb017554@gmail.com

Buckley, Cheryl - cheryl-buckley@att.net
Carr, Daisy
Medium: Cloth art dolls

Coleman-Cobb, Patricia
Media: Cloth and resin art dolls

Colette, Vivian
Medium: Cloth art dolls

Creations by Ba'ucham (Ra’chel Ba’ucham)           
Media: Yarn (crochet), porcelain, cloth  
Facebook: 

Cuddle Me Soft (Fay O’Neal)
Media: Vinyl and silicone reborns

Dean, Tiffani
Medium: Cloth art dolls

Deborah Grayson Studios
Media: Mixed media art dolls

Dolls by MonTQ (Tanya Montegut)
Medium: Cloth art dolls

Dolls Just 4 U (Scharynne Holmes)
Medium: Cloth

Ekkens, Pamela
- pamekkens@gmail.com

Ellis, Mabel - truedevotions@yahoo.com

Expressions of Color (Jean Henderson)
Media: Mixed media art dolls

FableDollHouse
Medium: Natural Fiber Art Dolls with a Whimsical Flair

Fomby, Tosh
Medium: Cloth art dolls

Fort, Patricia - patriciasdolls@hotmail.com
Fresh Dolls and Positively Perfect Dolls
Media: Vinyl and vinyl and cloth
Website: https://thefreshdolls.com/

Fusion Dolls
Medium: Vinyl
Website: https://www.fusiondolls.com/

Gant, VonZetta - dollsandfashion@gmail.com

Godfrey, Sahara - slgvibinge@earthlink.net
Green, Marie
Media: Cloth dolls, jewelry, and clothing
Handmade Dolls by Twissi
Medium: Cloth art dolls
Email: twissidolls55@gmail.com
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Twissi

Harris, Patricia - dhpal2626@gmail.com

Harris, Sherelle - sdjharris63@yahoo.com

Healthy Roots Dolls
Medium: Vinyl 18-inch doll with natural hair
Website: https://healthyrootsdolls.com/

Herstory Dolls (Canada)
Medium: Vinyl (articulated 17-inch dolls)
Website: http://www.herstorydoll.com/

Hillian, Vanessa - hillianvanessa@gmail.com

Holoford, Lillian - lilhol@sbcglobal.net

Hubbard, Pamela
Medium: Cloth art dolls

IamU Dolls (Stacey McBride-Irby)
Medium: Mass-produced 12-inch vinyl fashion dolls

Ikuzi Dolls
Media: Vinyl, cloth (18-inch dolls)
Website: https://www.ikuzidolls.com/

Imagination Dolls (Debbie Hilson)
Media: Mixed media art dolls

Iwyatt Imagist (Wyatt Hicks)
Medium: Polymer clay

January, Kor
Medium: Wood

Joffee Diva Dolls (Joy Griffis)
Media: Polymer clay and cloth

Kappia, Rita (lives in England)
Medium: Cloth art dolls

Kissing Kousins Dolls (Karen Oyekanmi)
Media: Felt, porcelain

LaGras, Stacy - stacy.legras@gmail.com

Lee, Gail and Tate, Candace
- gall2000.gl@gmail.com

Lively Folks by Tracy Perry 
Medium: Cloth
Instagram: SeamsLikeTracy
Email: Contact the artist through the Etsy shop contact link

Malaville Toys (South Africa)
Medium: Vinyl (fashion dolls)
Website: https://www.malavilletoys.com/

Massa's Servants Collectibles (Gloria Y. Rone)
Media: Polymer clay, cloth

MayOla’s Kidz - dhpal2626@gmail.com

McMurray, Crystal
Media: Nylon

Melandolly
Medium: Polymer clay
Website: https://melandolly.com/portfolio-2/

Melanites
Medium: Vinyl (17-inch boy doll)
Website: https://www.brownboyhood.com/products/jaylen-action-pal

Montsh, Abenaa Rukiya
Media: Polymer clay

M'simbi Dolls (Zambia, Africa)
Medium: Vinyl (18-inch dolls)
Website: https://www.msimbidolls.com/

Neal, Mary - mary@tnealcps.com

Neal, Mary K. - dollsdesignerlady@gmail.com

Original Dolls by Goldie Wilson
Media: One-of-a-kind porcelain and cloth


Osborne, Anita - aloe2ya@gmail.com

Our Brown Boy Joy (talking plush doll to empower brown boys)
Medium: Plush


Paddlefoot Dolls (Debra Pounds)
Medium: Cloth

Paris, Lorna
Media: Leather, cloth

Pretty Brown Girl
Media: Vinyl, cloth
Website: https://prettybrowngirlshop.com/

Reed, Gwendolyn - almeta1512@sbcglobal.net

ROGERSs Originals
labizlady@aol.com

Ruiter, Bing - Frekels Doll Company- frekels@ymail.com

Sands, Lorna Miller
Media: Silicone lifelike dolls

Sankofa Doll Artistry                                                    
Media: Mixed textiles

Sharon Pittman Art Dolls
Medium: Polymer clay

Sharon E. Tucker Original Designs
Media: Mixed media art dolls and clothes

Sibahle Collection (South Africa)
Medium: Vinyl
Website: https://sibahlecollection.com/

Small, Sylvia
Medium: Cloth

Sonadolls (Frantz Brent-Harris)
Media: Resin, silicone

Stacelina Monique Dolls and Miniature Accessories
Medium: Customized Barbie/fashion doll repaints, miniature accessories for playscale dolls

Starkey’s Daughter Cloth Dolls (Rachel McCullough Sherrod)
Media: Felt, cloth

Studio XOXO (Cleveland Wycoff aka Cj Starz)
Medium: Resin (16.75 and 12-inch fashion BJDs)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cj.starz.7
Website: https//www.studioxoxodolls.com/

Sumner, Stephen
Doll Artist/Designer formerly designed for Hasbro and Mattel

Swann, Alice
Medium: Wood, clay, cloth

Thimble & Doll (London, England)
Medium: Cloth
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thimbleanddoll/?tn-str=k*F

Trinity Designs, Inc.
Media: Vinyl (16-inch sorority-inspired dolls)

Urbidolls (France)
Medium: Vinyl
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/Urbidolls
Website: https://urbidolls.com/

Williams, Trish
Media: Mixed textiles (art dolls)

Wilson, Goldie (see Original Dolls by Goldie Wilson above)


Wilson, LaVera - luvwills2@yahoo.com

Witherspoon, Dr. LaVerne - v2k02@hotmail.com

World Girls
Medium: Vinyl
Website: https://www.teamworldgirls.com/collections/all

Young, Angela
Media: Cloth and reborns

PAST BLACK DOLL DESIGNERS MAKERS/MANUFACTURERS OF BLACK DOLLS


Berta Bell Dolls (I. Roberta Bell)

Big Beautiful Dolls, Inc. (Audrey Bell-Kearney and Georgette Taylor)

Candi and Candi Girls (Helena Hamilton)

Double Dutch Dolls by K. Charles



Grandy, Gloria (soft-sculptured artist of OOAK dolls)

Here Comes Niya and NiyaKids (Darla Davenport-Powell)


Lars, Byron (designed the Byron Lars Barbies for Mattel)

Lomel Enterprises (Baby Whitney)

McBurrows, Annuel (sculpted the Brown Eye Doll series for Remco)

Moss, Leo (late-1800s to early 1900s doll maker)

Olmec Toys (Yla Eason was the founder).

Perkins, Kitty Black (former fashion-doll designer for Mattel)





Again, if you are a Black (African or of African-descent) doll maker or know someone who is, please add the artist's name or the company's name and contact information in a comment to this post. Thank you in advance!

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________

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10 comments:

  1. LaVerne Hall
    Holiday Festival of Black Dolls
    Bellevue Washington

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have added you to the list, LaVerne! Sorry for overlooking you.

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      Delete
  2. https://healthyrootsdolls.com/ Just saw this one

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Frankie! Healthy Roots and a host of other companies and artists have been added to the list. I'll keep updating as necessary.

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      Delete
  3. Hello! I just learned of a company called StudioXOXO dolls that is Black owned and consists of all Black dolls. there's 1/4th scale resin BJDs and 1/6th scale vinyl dolls. They're all stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  4. https://www.etsy.com/shop/FableDollhouse?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1027845542

    Hi! Just found this AWESOME custom doll shop on etsy-- look how cute the creations are! anyways, it's Black-owned and thought you might be interested in it. I'm gonna order a mini-me ASAP!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for sharing the link to FableDollHouse's Etsy shop. I have added the shop to the body of this post.

    dbg

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sharon Davis cloth art dolls. esdavis44@sbcglobal.net

    ReplyDelete

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