Passed
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Description
16 1/2" (42 cm.) Musha-ningyo (warrior doll) of Jimmu Tenno by Yamakawa Eitokusai II depicting the legendary first emperor shown in a classic standing position, having head and hands of wood covered in a pigmented gofun with painted details, silk hair left long and wild, realistic facial features and hand detailing, with simple lacquered paper armor and green silk lacing, matching kimono and hakama trousers done in a silk brocade with hexagonal lozenges, faux fur thigh guards, wood carved boots, sword at left hip, and with long bow in hand capped by a kin no tobi (golden hawk), Taisho Era, early 20th century. Initially collected in Japan in the early 1950s through the curator of the Imperial Museum, Nishizawa Tekiho (1889-1965) by Colonel Robert and Eloise Thomas and part of their Yesteryear's Museum in Sandwich, MA. Exhibited Japan Society (1996). Published Ningyo: Yesteryear's Doll Museum Collection (1983), p. 19 and Ningyo: The Art of the Human Figure, p. 58. Jimmu Tenno was introduced as a Boy's Day figure during the Meiji Era as part of the emphasis on the emperor. This example was created by Eitokusai (Keijiro, 1858-1928), who operated a well-known shop in the Nihonbashi section of Tokyo and was a supplier to the imperial family. He greatly popularized images of Jimmu Tenno and Shoki the Demon Queller and was noted for the sense of realism he brought to his ningyo.