Bertabel and Janci

Annie Davis Frierson is a 16-inch porcelain or clay-baked doll hand sculpted by I. Roberta Bell in 1975.

A doll by I. Roberta Bell of Bertabel's Dolls made in the likeness of the artist's grandmother is a recent acquisition. I was fascinated by the doll's story that is written on the hang tag . 

Annie Davis Frierson, who was born in 1859, died in 1939. The hang tag  reads:

About seven when slavery was over, she had no last name and knew nothing of her parents. She was adopted, reared, and schooled by a family named Davis, graduating from what later became "Fisk University" in Nashville, Tennessee. She married a school mate, the Rev. Robert Frierson, bore twelve children, one of which was the mother of I. Roberta Bell, and taught in a rural school in Tennessee.

Outside hang tag  text

The inside of the hang tag reads:
Bertabel's Dolls by I. Roberta Bell 
Artist member 
National Institute 
of American Doll Artists

Full-length view of Bertabel's portrait doll of Annie Davis Frierson

When I saw this and several other dolls by the artist on eBay, I named and claimed this one as mine. Another listing by this artist was in my sights, too. After being outbid on that one, which ended a few minutes before the Annie Davis Frierson auction, I set serious sights on Annie and I bid to win!

Nila is a 14-inch wood and cloth doll by Janci Dolls

A 14-inch wood and cloth doll named Nila, made by Janci Dolls in 1995 was offered in the same week as the Bertabel doll. I've wanted a Black Janci doll for at least two decades. When I saw this one on eBay a few days before the listing ended, I named and claimed it as mine, too.

She has such a sweet face.

Nila has a precious face, more precious than the other Black Janci dolls I have seen that others own. A 24 x 11-inch poster of an ad that was featured in a 1996 issue of Contemporary Doll Collector magazine accompanied Nila.

Both dolls have been installed in DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum. View their installations at the links below:

Annie Davis Frierson

Nila by Janci

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

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

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!