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Description
15" (38 cm.) Isho-ningyo of a Komosu (travelling monk) with head, hands and feet of wood, covered in gofun with painted details and silk fiber hair, is done in a comedic style with the monk appearing a bit intoxicated with a wild-eyed expression, wearing a silk kimono with large silk crepe sleeve cuffs and a broad stuffed sash style obi, distinctive tengai (deep sedge hat) made of lacquered paper with pigments and birodo black velvet trim, and with natural walking stick and portable shrine on his back, mounted on lacquer wood base. Repair to left ankle. Exhibited Japan Society (1996). Published in Ningyo: The Art of the Human Figure, p. 63. Heroes disguising themselves as travelling Buddhist monks was a standard trope in Japanese performances, with the deep bowl-like sedge hat covering their faces and thereby shielding their identity.