$12,500
Sold
sold
Click image to enlarge
Description
14" (36 cm.) Exceptionally rare and engaging doll tableau for the May 5th Boy's Day display depicting the classic fairy tale character Momotaro,The Peach Boy, as a samurai warrior, having well-executed head in wood with full cheeks and a smiling expression, covered in a fine gofun with inset glass eyes, hair drawn into a youthful topknot, dressed in lacquered paper armor with silk lacing, green and red velvet accents, silk brocade hitatare kimono with sleeves drawn tightly closed, silk brocade hakama trousers, silk brocade shin guards with metal accents, simulated leather tabi socks with straw sandals, seated on a camp stool with battle signal fan in hand and long sword at hip. He is accompanied by the seated monkey depicted as an advisor, having silk face with monkey features and inset glass eyes, and wearing a rich gold silk brocade jimbaori military sleeveless surcoat, and figured green silk kimono and silk brocade trousers; the dog as a vassal depicted in a fighting stance with dog face done in the keueisaiku technique of silk fiber fur, with inset glass eyes, wearing lacquered paper breast plate, and with long sword at hip; and finally the pheasant depicted as a bannerman, kneeling and holding aloft a small silk banner, red and green face done in silk crepe and green silk feathers, claw-like hands done in silk wrapped wire, dressed in military garb. There is some wear to textile and loss of hair. Late Edo Period, Mid-19th century. Exhibited Mingei International Museum (2005), Morikami Museum (2012). Published Ningyo: The Art of the Japanese Doll, p. 164-165 and Entertaining the God's and Man: Japanese Dolls and the Theater, p. 113. While Momotaro was a long established fairy tale, his popularity as a Boy's Day figure dates from the mid-19th century when his exploits against the ogres on the island of Onigashima were clearly likened to the mounting external threats Japan was facing by Western powers.