Posted 1 year ago
kwqd
(1122 items)
These figurines are, male 3" x 3", female 2.5" x 2.5". They are not marked but came in a wooden box with a pretty extensive amount of text on the lid, which it turns out, is a box for holding tea and not related to these dolls. They appear to be chalk ware, or something similar, and are quite heavy, so may have something inside them. The male figurine has some sort of lance or pole extending from his middle.
Explanation from rhineisfine about these dolls:
"It's an "emperor and empress" doll set for Hinamatsuri in Japanese. Hinamatsuri (variously called Girls' Day or Dolls Day in English) falls on March 3rd:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri
The elaborate tradition is to have a full large set of gofun dolls that are arrayed on a stepped display, but many people simply have an emperor/empress set to display. (They're actually the "imperial couple", not the emperor and empress exactly, but close enough in English.)
Sorry, meant to say it's a festival (matsuri) in Japan, featuring ornamental dolls (hina-ningyo), thus the name Hinamatsuri in Japanese.'"
They are not extremely complex or sophisticated in execution. I was not really interested in these but they came in a two box lot with a very nice sake cup in a tomobako, both for only $9, the cup probably worth several times that amount. No idea who made these.-
It's an "emperor and empress" doll set for Hinamatsuri in Japanese. Hinamatsuri (variously called Girls' Day or Dolls Day in English) falls on March 3rd:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri
The elaborate tradition is to have a full large set of gofun dolls that are arrayed on a stepped display, but many people simply have an emperor/empress set to display. (They're actually the "imperial couple", not the emperor and empress exactly, but close enough in English.)
Sorry, meant to say it's a festival (matsuri) in Japan, featuring ornamental dolls (hina-ningyo), thus the name Hinamatsuri in Japanese.
Thanks for the information rhineisfine! I will be posting the sake cup that I got with this set later today.
These are great and very unique!! The first of their kind I've seen.
Thanks for your comments, jscott0363! First time for me too!
Thanks for loving my Japanese chalk ware dolls Kevin, PhilDMorris, jscott0363, Jenni, BHIFOS, vcal, fortapache, rhineisfine, Vynil33rpm, dav2no1 and yougottahavestuff!
The box says Meisho (“master craftsman”) sencha tea. The pole the male figure has is actually the hilt of a sword.
Thanks MMNJ! So the box does not go with the dolls, but is a perfect fit for them. Never would have guessed that was a sword hilt, but it seems obvious, now!