Name: Maru and Friends Raven a WLBDA Club Doll and Ruby Zee
Made by and When: (Raven) Maru and Friends, a 2016 ultra-limited-edition custom doll; (Ruby Zee) was made by Rachel McCullough Sherrod of Starkey’s Daughter Cloth Dolls in 2016.
Material: Raven is all vinyl. Ruby Zee (the companion doll) is cloth. Both dolls have synthetic hair.
Marks: (NECK) MARU / and Friends; Ruby Zee’s hang tag reads, “Ruby Zee / WLBDA 2016 / Companion Doll / A Starkey’s Daughter Cloth Doll
Height: Raven is 20 inches tall. Her companion doll is 9 inches tall.
Hair, Eyes, Mouths: (Raven)Long dark brown hair with a side part and two braids in the parted section. The back hangs loose. Raven has hazel inset eyes with applied upper eyelashes and painted lower eyelashes. Her mouth is closed. (Ruby Zee) Brown curly ponytail with curly bangs. The ponytail is adorned with a purple and white polka dot ribbon.
Clothes: Raven arrived wearing the Maru and Friends “Spring is in the Air” fashion that includes a white satin dress with fabric roses at the waist, white panties, white shimmery tights, a white drawstring purse, and white patent-leather shoes. Her custom-made dress by Rachel McCullough Sherrod of Starkey’s Daughter Cloth Dolls is made of green, purple, and white floral and polka dot print that matches the dress Rachel made for Raven’s companion doll, Ruby Zee. “WLBDA Anew” 2016 is embroidered on the waistband. In addition to the dress that matches Raven’s, Ruby Zee wears white lace-trimmed panties, white tights, and white leatherette shoes.
Other: In 2015, Maru and Friends added the 2nd edition Raven doll to their product line. By special request from the We Love Black Dolls Anew (WLBDA) Facebook group, a limited edition of fewer than 20 second-edition Raven dolls was dressed in the “Spring is in the Air fashion” by Maritza Gutierrez (founder of Maru and Friends. The WLBDA group then commissioned Rachel McCullough Sherrod of Starkey’s Daughter Cloth Dolls to make a cloth companion doll for Raven and another dress for Raven that matches the smaller doll’s dress.
Ruby Zee was made from a pattern created by Rachel McCullough Sherrod during the 1990s that she named Zenobia. Ruby Zee’s first name is a tribute to Ruby Bridges. The surname, Zee, abbreviates Zenobia.
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