Posted 8 years ago
rpm78
(3 items)
Japanse geisha ethnic doll playing koto. Cloth, dimensions ca. 10x15 cm. The set comprises the doll, koto, screen, and little platform. I bought this in 1987 from its maker, Taka Maeda, who —if I remember well— was female, at an exhibition of Japanese ethnic art in Moscow. It has been supervising my office on a shelf for the last 30 years. I have no idea of the tradition from which it stems. I couldn't find Taka Maeda on the internet.
Very nice ! I would say the artist transformed the geisha doll ( she did not make her and they were very popular tourist dolls ) and added the pieces to make like a diorama of sorts . So the artist part was picking the pieces she placed and how she made the doll look like she was playing the koto. Nice piece :-)
Actually, (speaking to doubting Manikin) when my family lived in Japan back in the 1960's, the military base offered Japanese doll-making classes. My mother made 3 very elaborate dolls. The faces came pre-painted but they had to be sewn and stuffed. The bodies had to be sewn and stuffed. The kimonos and obis had to be sewn. The hair came straight and loose so it had to be styled and hair ornaments placed. It took months to complete a doll. Each person in the class made a unique doll unlike any other in the class. My mother made a male Kabuki performer, a geisha playing a koto, and an Oiran in her koma- getas.