Antique Japanese wedding kimono gown, black silk brocade with flying cranes over pine, plum and bamboo (Sho Chiku Bai). They are celebrative motifs that are almost always seen in the Japanese wedding and New Year. The beautiful color combination of gold threads (wrapped in real gold leaf) and white shiny silk threads are woven into the background of black Shusu, satin silk with the contrasting color of a red silk liner. This is an absolutely gorgeous wedding gown. With the detailed phot ...click for details
Japanese antique hina dolls, large musician ningyo from the 1800s. The hayashi musician dolls were added to the emperor and empress dolls (Dairi-bina), sometime in the mid to late 18th century. They were first made in Edo (today’s Tokyo) while the Zuishin, Court Guards (also known as ministrator dolls) were being created in Kyoto.
There are two types of costumes for the musician dolls, Kamishimo or Suou (su-ou). ...click for details
The Japanese samurai dolls are part of the display used for Boy’s Day on every 5th of May in Japan. The dolls are the figures of historical heroes or legendary people to inspire the boys in the family (probably husbands are also included today) in their manliness and hopefully discipline and bravery to go with them. Samurai’s Yoroi armor, Kabuto helmet with swords, bow with arrows are popular items chosen today for the day. ...click for details
Antique Japanese warrior doll, 20" Empress Jingyo ningyo(doll) set. Clad in armor is a beautiful young widow, Empress Jingo doll with her faithful minister, Takenouchi no Sukune, holding her baby Ojin. Over time, many of the baby dolls were lost or intentionally thrown away by later generations, probably because of the lack of historical understanding. An old Samurai holding a baby is simply inconceivable and uncharacteristic of a Samurai warrior. The Empress, after losing her hair ...click for details
A Japanese Samurai doll (ningyo) with the look of a Daimyo: feudal lord in the Edo period (1603-1868). The Kamishimo with long hakama trousers were only worn for special occasions in the Edo castle. The samurai's blue top kimono is made out of a wash paper (a liner to his original kimono). There is a beautiful patina on his face which is covered with a gofun mixture from the time. In the old time, doll makers used to let oyster shells sit outside for years before they could groun ...click for details
Antique Japanese Doll by Kyoko: Dancing Sanbaso Ningyo Doll. This gorgeous doll with a face of Ichimatsu ningyo (doll) is approximately 18 inches tall on a 3/4 inch stand. The dimension of the stand is 13 inches x 10 inches x 3/4 inches. The crane is hand painted on the fabric. There are some fabric damages on the left side of her upper kimono (cloth) as shown.
Lovely Japanese Musician Dolls, high quality dolls made in Kyoto. The faces of the dolls are different from each other and they have more delicate feature than shown on the photos. Their clothings are made from beautiful brocades specially woven for dolls. The color of red is deeper than shown here. The size of the two dolls are 6 1/4 inches tall and the other three are approx. 5 inches tall. Circa 1930 to 1950.
Antique Japanese Dolls by Kyoko: Japanese Tachi-bina Ningyo, Standing Hina Dolls
The Tachi bina is an older form of Japanese Hina dolls from the early Edo period(1603-1827). The earlier Tachi bina dolls were not made to stand up, instead they were made to lay down or lean on the display. The faces of this set appear to be old with a beautiful sparkle on Gofun, probably from the late Edo to early Meji period. I am ...click for details
Antique Japanese doll, a head of a samurai festival ningyo(doll), rare find; iki ningyo (living dolls), dashi (festival float) ningyo or Kiku festival doll: There are over 5000 matsuri festivals in Japan and 1400 of them have Dashi festival floats or Hoko (long spear, naginata sword on the top) floats. There are obviously heated passions when it comes to Matsuri there. I found many exciting sites on the Internet introducing their home town festivals with photos and detailed information. Ma ...click for details
Japanese samurai dolls, Yoroi and Kabuto (armor and helmet), swords, nobori and carps banner are all a part of the display used for the Boy's Day in Japan. The quality set like this will give a wonderful, rich flavor as a decoration to your home all year around. There is no Maruhei (Kyoto doll maker known for the highest quality dolls) label on the box but the same set that I had seen had the Maruhei label that indicates the set was made in early Taisho period (1912-1926). ...click for details
