Japanese Hina Dolls, Three Jyokan, Ladies-in-waiting

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Directory: Vintage Arts: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Dolls: Pre 1950: Item # 134419

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Asian Art By Kyoko
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Los Angeles
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Quality Japanese Hina Ningyo with unique faces. These Jyokan dolls are a part of the Hina doll set displayed for the Japanese Girls Day, Hina Matsuri Festival, also called the Peach Festival, held in every March. The peach blossoms are often associated with a woman’s beauty and inner strength. When the blossoms start to open by breaking through the snow from February to March, it is the announcement of the arrival of spring. Being a farming country until recently, it meant the beginning for the new crop. If the Boys Day is to encourage the boy’s manly characters by displaying Samurai and other hero dolls, these Hina dolls are for the girls; it is for their daughters to grow up as elegant as these dolls.

These three Kanjyo or Jyokan (ladies-in-waiting) dolls are placed on the third step of the Hina set, after the imperial couples and the Zuishin Imperial Guards/administer dolls. Their job in the Heian (794-1160) court is to serve food and drinks to the Emperor and Empress.

It has the quality and individuality of an old well-made hina doll; they are unique with distinguished face on each doll and the fabrics that are used for their gowns are very high quality Kyoto Nishijin textile. There is an artist signature on the back of the original box with the calligraphy written on the center of the top read Yusoku (Yushoku) and Kanjyo (jyo-kan or kan-jyo means the same), lady-in-waiting. Yusoku is the word describing the people of the Heian court (794-1160) and Yusoku hina was popular among the aristcrat class.

The standing dolls are 8 3/4 inches tall; the seated doll is 6 inches tall. The dimensions of the box are 13 3/8 inches x 17 3/8 inchs x 10 inches deep.