Name: "Hottentot" Kewpie®
Description: 6", all felt, fully jointed.
Date of Release: 2001
Edition Notes: Made of dark brown molded felt with hand painted details. Kewpie® shield on chest. Ltd. Ed. 250.
©KEWPIE 2001. ©Jesco, 2001. Under license from Jesco.
In 1914 a black Kewpie was introduced by Rose O'Neill and dubbed the "Hottentot." The name was based on the real-life Khoikhio tribe in southern Africa. When European immigrants colonized the area in the late 1600s they labeled the natives "Hottentots" in imitation of the sound of the Khoekhoe language. Today, this term is considered derogatory, but in Rose O'Neill's time it was viewed as humorously exotic.