Katiba

Name: Katiba

Made by and When: Marion Forek-Schmahl for Sigikid, 1992

Material: Vinyl (head and limbs), and brown cloth (body)

Marks: 8 / Sigikid / 24581 MS / 18/500

Height: 26 inches; the paper dolls measure 7 inches (Katiba) and 8 inches (Wale)

Hair, Eyes, Mouth: The black human-hair wig is now styled in multiple cornrows. The original hairstyle of loose curls adorned with different dark-colored geometrically-shaped wooden pieces is illustrated in the final gallery photo of the doll and in the paper doll illustration included in the gallery. The irises are green with black pupils. Upper and lower eyelashes are painted. Katiba has striking ethnically-correct facial features.

Clothes: Olive green top with beads and shells that decorate the edge of the sleeves and Capri-length pants are worn underneath a multicolored body wrap. Katiba wears brown leather sandals and gold-tone hoop earrings.

Other: The name Katiba (also spelled Katibah) is an Arabic name for girls that means writer or one who writes. Made in Germany, this doll was sculpted in 1992 without using a real model, according to the Wale and Katiba article in the March/April 1994 issue of Dolls magazine. A brother named Wale was also created by the artist. Both Katiba and Wale were limited to 500 for Sigikid’s 1993 line. Katiba is #18 in the edition.

Paper dolls were also created for Katiba and her brother, Wale. These originally appeared in the March/April 1994 issue of Dolls magazine. (See the paper dolls in the gallery photos.)

Gallery

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Published by DeeBeeGee

Doll collector, historian, co-founder of the first e-zine devoted to collecting black dolls; author of black-doll reference books, doll blogs, and doll magazine articles.

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