$400
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sold
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Description
10" (25 cm.) A standing female courtier known as isho-ningyo is depicted performing the role
of the tortoise in the Noh play Tsurukame,with face and hands of wood composite (toso) and
covered in shell white (gofun),the face full and well rendered with a trace of a chin line,largish
inset glass eyes and painted details,silk fiber hair in long single braid at the back,arms
attached by wires to a rudimental wood armatured body allowing for change in pose,and
mounted on a scalloped wood stand; she is wearing a furisode kimono with a double brocade
patterning and red brocade beneath. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: Japanese,Meiji
era,late 19th/early 20th century,posed with modeled tortoise on her head,the doll was part of
an original set of three figures which would have included the Chinese emperor,the crane
dancer and the tortoise dancer,all figures in the Noh play. Value Points: appealing isho-
ningyo with well rendered face and costume.