Very impressive Japanese clay doll, 17 inches tall oiran geisha ningyo (doll). When the hina dolls were limited only to a few wealthy people, these clay dolls
were
for regular people (more than 90 percent of the population). Most of the
clay dolls in the mid Edo period (1603-1868) have their roots in the Fushimi
clay dolls of the Kyoto area which were originally sold as souvenirs to the
pilgrims on the way to the Fushimi Inari Shrine.
While the early clay
dolls
in the Edo period still carried religious meanings, displaying dolls in
individual homes (in late Edo) was a parent’s prayer for the well being of
their
children at a time when medicine was much less advanced. They were
displayed for
the Sekku Hina Festival time for the girls before a new plantation began and
also displayed for Boy's Day in May. The popularity of clay dolls quickly
declined when cloth dolls became available to the common people with the
development of the steam engine. Many clay dolls were thrown away after
earthquake damages or others.
This doll is a "tayuu or taifu", the
highest
ranking Oiran (similar to later Geisha - they tied their obi sash in the
front) in
the Edo period. These young women were sold to Yoshiwara by poor farmer's
families often to pay debt or support other siblings. The face of this
unsophisticated clay
doll is beautiful but has a strange air of saddness. This doll arrived from
Japan with a damage in one area, the bottom, front to front area (one or two
clean broken pieces). We need to mention here that some of the clay dolls that we purchased in Japan already had some repairs done. We wanted to do whatever we could to save this doll that we decided to have it professionally restored. The job was well done. This
is one beautiful doll that our photos failed to show.
