$7,000
Sold
sold
Click image to enlarge
Description
17" (43 cm.) Paper mache swivel head, slightly-tinted gofun finish, bald scalp with shadowed hair and cut slits at side and back with inset silk fiber locks, glass inset eyes, painted features, pierced nostrils, closed mouth in smiling expression, two upper teeth, impressed dimples at lip corners and cheeks, philtrum, paper mache torso and limbs with sling-jointing at hips, and further jointing at knees, ankles and wrists, textile upper arms, The doll is wearing silk bib (haragake) with unusual ruffled collar edged with black velvet, and a padded plaid silk kimono and paste-resist dyed cotton obi. Generally excellent. Late Edo period, circa 1850. The mitsuore doll, introduced in the late 1700s, was revolutionary in Japanese culture, with its intricate articulation (mitsuore meaning triple-jointed but in this case actually four-jointed as the wrists swivel, also), and its constuction designed to allow a child to undress and re-dress the doll. The doll is photographed in Japanese Dolls by Alan Scott Pate on pages 232 and 243.