Passed
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Description
36" (91 cm.) h. including base. Rare Sado Island bunya-ningyo (puppet), with well carved wooden head and shoulder armature, covered in gofun with painted details including red lips, blackened teeth, wide eyes and arching eyebrows, hair pulled back into a single braid, high forehead, female figure with no arms, wearing a red silk brocade kimono with a hexagonal tortoise shell ground and repeated bands of floral bursts, a figured green silk obi sewn as part of the garment, mounted on a contemporary simple wood frame stand. Wear to textiles, restored head. Taisho Era, early 20th century. Sado Island, located in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Niigata, was used for centuries as a place of exile for the nobility in Kyoto; hence, it has long maintained a surprisingly sophisticated culture despite its remote locale, and artisans, working to meet the expectations of the exiled nobility far surpassed many of their peers on the mainland. Bunya puppetry is considered a "pure" form of puppetry and closely tied to the origins of Japanese puppetry known as ningyo-joruri out of which the more sophisticated puppet traditions of Bunraku and Awaji also emerged. Despite their simplistic structure, their heads are noted for their well-crafted beauty.