Passed
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Description
23" (58 cm.) including hat, and 14". The pair depicting Jingu Kogo and her minister Takenocuhi no Sukune for the Boy's Day display. The Empress Jingu, with head and hands of wood covered in a pure white gofun, inset glass eyes, open mouth, painted details including blackened teeth and okymayu skybrows indicating her imperial status, long real hair drawn into a single braid down the back, is depicted standing on a wood base, wearing a white gauze hitatare coat with silk drawstrings at the sleeves, embellished with 16-petal chrysanthemums done in purple, with gold lacquered paper armor with heavy metal fittings, silk brocade hakama trousers, heavy fur boots, a long sword at hip with simulated shark skin handle and lacquered scabbard, Chinese style gumbai battle fan in right hand, bow in her left, and wearing a tall lacquered paper eboshi cap; and Takenouchi, depicted kneeling and wearing a coordinated purple gauze hitatare with silk drawstrings on the sleeves, face with a pigmented gofun with highly creased, wizened features expressing his great age, inset glass eyes, white hair, mustache and chin beard, with right hand closed. Meiji Era, circa 1900. During the Meiji Era Jingu remained one of the most popular musha-ningyo themes, one that reinforced the institution of the emperor. The bold use of the 16-petal chrysanthemum here serves to accentuate that connection. The infant Ojin is typically included in these tableaux, but with Takenouchi's right hand closed, here he is positioned to hold a fan rather than the baby, pointing to the continuing value of Jingu herself as a member of the Boy's Day pantheon.