On my daily internet surfing adventures *cough* I found a company by the name of EthiDolls that made collectible African historical characters. They were formed in 2003 and are based in the USA.
Currently, they have two dolls in their line – Makeda, The Queen of Sheba (modern day Ethiopia – East Africa) and Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa of the Asante (modern day Ghana – West Africa).
Queen of Sheba
Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa
These dolls are 16 inch tall and hand crafted by Madame Alexander (The Alexander Doll Company, Inc.) and at USD $139 each, they are a bit pricey so I guess I’ll be admiring from afar for a while.
This is an excerpt of the company’s profile -
Established in 2003, EthiDolls® is a developer of collectible quality, educational, African dolls and accessories, based in New York City. The company’s mission is to create unique dolls and related accessories that help children and adults embrace African heritage, culture and tradition.
Salome Yilma, EthiDolls’ CEO, conceived and designed the line of learning and exploration products along with Yeworkwoha Ephrem, EthiDolls’ EVP. Both women are Ethiopian entrepreneurs living in the New York area.
Through EthiDolls, Ms. Yilma and Ms. Ephrem plan to develop a line of culturally authentic and unique Signature Dolls and Accessories that teach history, celebrate cultural diversity and offer new play patterns.
http://www.ethidolls.com/about_us.htm
(accessed 20 August 2009)
Apparently, King Solomon’s son Menelik by Makeda took the Ark of the Covenant back to Ethiopia after he visited his father. I find this story terribly intriguing… even to this day this story is still quite a mystery.
