Passed
Click image to enlarge
Description
6 1/4" (16 cm.) Each of the sarubobo monkeys, made of red silk crepe and depicted with feet and hands joined in the center, is dressed as a Sambaso dancer with tall gold-banded hat and large red disk and clothed in silk coats. Late Meiji/Early Taisho Era. Early 20th century. Exhibited Morikami Museum (2012). Published Entertaining the Gods and Man: Japanese Dolls and the Theater, p. 34. The survival of a pair is rare, and their condition is exceptionally good for this category of object. The red monkey was believed to protect children from disease, particularly small pox and measles. Sarubobo were used as talismans and hung in the house for protection, generally seen as particularly auspicious and potent. The Sanbaso is a particularly sacred and ancient ritual dance in Japan, often used to welcome in the New Year. Monkey trainers often dressed their charges as Sanbaso and would charge onlookers to watch them and receive the protective blessings this was thought to bring.