Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Dolls (51)

A superb quality set of court musician dolls for Japanese Girl’s Day, Hina Matsuri.
The Hina festival takes place every March 3rd in Japan and it is a day of celebration for the well-being of every girl in the family. In earlier days, people were more susceptible to natural disasters or diseases, so in order to keep evil spirits away, this day was spent giving offerings to God. This custom was adopted from the 7th century Chinese ceremony that originally took place on the beach...

Japanese Takeda doll, Benkei. We originaly thought this doll was Benkei but somehow he was changed into to Samurai Kiyomasa (16 to 17th century samurai general). We should be correcting or leave him as is with a tiger. Circa Meiji period (1868-1912). 15 inches tall, 14 1/2 inches across platform.

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)...

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 Tachi bina is an older form of Japanese Hina dolls from the early Edo period(1603-1827). The earlier Tachi bina 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 white gofun crashed/ground oyster shell, Kyoho-bina from mid Edo period. The silk brocade has washi paper backing (with washi hand made Japanese paper)...

Antique Japanese doll, a head of a samurai festival ningyo(doll), rare find; dashi (festival float) ningyo or Kiku festival doll. The measurement of this featured head (used for Dashi float or kiku ningyo festival) is approx. 15 inches (38 cm) long from the top to the bottom (stick included), life slightly larger than life size and light in weight, inside wood is carved out. Most of the weight is within the bottom pole...

The Zuishin dolls are a part of the Hina Ningyo doll set for Hina Matsuri, the Girl’s Day Festival in Japan. Though they are commonly called Daijin minister dolls, they are the figures of Toneri, the imperial guardsmen and escorts from the Heian period (794-1185).

It was said that the Zuishin dolls were already seen (created and added to the Imperial Hina couple) in Kyoto during the Meiwa era (1764-1772) while the musician dolls were created in Edo (current Tokyo) at the same time...

Japanese antique hina dolls (ningyo), the muscician dolls from the late Edo period (1603-1868). All five dolls have dimples on their cheeks; one doll in the center is carrying an inro (medicine case) and another has a pouch on her back of the belt area -- shown in the last photo...

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Three Jokan Dolls are part of a Hina doll set for the Japanese Girl's Day. They are to serve the Emperor and Empress with drinks and food. The young and pretty are usually choosen for this role. Many sets have one older married woman sitting in the middle, possibly a supervising figure? Her hair is usually done in a less attractive manner and she often has her teeth blackened. It was the sign of being a married woman at the time...

Exquisite antique Japanese Hina Ningyo (dolls) for Hina Matsuri festival, the Girl’s in Japan. The dolls are probably from the late Taisho to early Showa period, 1910 to 1940 and in excellent condition. The level indicates that they were made in Kyoko by Hinagata-ya, pre WWII in Kyoto, size 2 (second largest). The hair of the emperor and empress appears to be original and brittle. There will be some broken hair fallen whenever the dolls are moved...

Make-up plays a vital roll in a Kabuki play because it is dark in the Kabuki Theater (especially in 17th century Edo period without light bulbs). It was sometimes exaggerated, along with their costumes, to let the audience know right away who they were and also their emotional stages...

Three Japanese Jyokan (ladies-in-waiting) hina dolls are a part of the hina doll set displayed for the Hina Matsuri Festival, Japanese Girls Day in March, also called the Peach Festival. This day is reserved for the girls of the family wishing for their well-being for the coming year. Late Meiji to Taisho period, early 1900’s.

When the peach blossoms start to open by breaking through the snow from February to March, it is the announcement of the arrival of spring. Plums are often asso...

Interesting looking Japanese theater doll, dressed as a Chinese warrior, Kan-U (Guan Yu, Chinese), a Chinese legendary figure from the Three Kingdoms era. The story of the turbulent warring period in Chinese was written by Luo Guazhong in 14th century in his famous novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". It became popular among the neighboring countries. In Japan, it was played in puppet doll theaters (Joruri) and Kabuki theaters in late 17th century Edo period. I believe the book was first fu...

Japanese Shoki (demon queller) doll for the Japanese Boy's Day. The story of Shoki came from ancient Chinese folklore. He was known to cure ailing emperor of the Tang Dynasty when he was plagued with nightmares. Shoki showed up in the emperor's dream and chased the demons away. This store was later adopted by the Japanese. Shoki became to be the only non-Japanese figure displayed in early Japanese Boy's Day festival since the Edo period (1603-1868). Circa 1910 to 1930. This is not a ...

This set of dolls was made for Japanese Boy’s Day. It comes from one of Japanese folklores, Peach Boy, Momotaro. Momo is translated to peach and Taro (ta-ro-o) is a common name for boys. The writing on the label (on the box) is "Wakana Ningyo", the date of purchase is the 10th years of Taisho (1921), 92 years ago! The condition is excellent (old but new condition) - the set appears newer than it actually is in the photos. Momotaro's fan (made out of one piece of paper) is bent down (as sh...

Scruffy looking old Japanese warrior doll (musha ningyo). This doll is not so tall (11 1/2" tall) but heavily padded, solid and quite heavy. When we acquired this doll, his hair was already replaced once and most of it was; one side is painted in black. Old glass eyes. The checker design (ichimatsu design) on his clothes is very similar to "Enshu-donsu", one of the famous fabrics used for tea ceremonies in the Edo period. 11 1/2" high x 11" wide x 12" deep. Circa Meiji (1868-1912). ...

This is an old mitsuore ningyo (triple jointed doll) from the Meiji period (1868-1912) or possibly earlier (late Edo period). The body of this doll was made with the Ikkanbari method. In this method, layers of washi (Japanese paper) were glued (lacquered) together over a wooden mold to form the shape of the body parts. It was then coated with layers of gofun, the mixture of ground oyster shells and animal glue. The eyes of the doll are painted from the inside, the arms can be shaped to a c...