Traditional Vintage, Rare (Tsugaru-Kei) ‘Nuruyu’ Traditional Kokeshi by Sato, Zenji
Dimensions: 12-0”h
The rarest element of this Kokeshi is that it has “feet” drawn on the bottom of the doll. One rarely sees this type of treatment, because it was considered rebellious by a traditional family of Kokeshi craftsmen. Sato-san, (1925-1985) studied under master Mori, Hidetaro spa, Aomori prefecture.
Nuruyu dolls made their appearance at the Onsen, in the city of Kuroishi, and are considered a rare strain of the Tsugaru family of dolls. In the early Taisho period, after restrictions place by the ruling feudal lords were lifted, body shapes of Tsugaru dolls began to vary considerably with each artist. Tsugaru artists were creating dolls for collectors, rather than staying within the boundaries of the original, typical Kokeshi, which were made as toys.
As seen in this doll, an extremely tapered body is used and is made of one piece of wood with no joinery involved, turned on the lathe. The only decoration on the body is the Rokoru moyo varied circular banding in red and black. Her head is oval, or what was referred to as ‘egg’ shaped, and displays a more modern hairstyle: a topknot. The hair is painted in solid black with a red circle in the center. Her eyes are extremely painterly, with a marubana, (round nose). An exceptional collectors piece because of the atypical treatment throughout the doll. The doll is signed by the artist.
Condition: Excellent, original condition, with no fading or loss of color and consistent with age and standards of collectible Folk Art. All details are perfect and as crafted.
Japanese Traditional Kokeshi
Tsugaru-Kei (Family)
Prefecture: Aomori
Origin:
Tsugaru is the youngest of the eleven traditional kokeshi strains. They began in the 1920s. A Tsugaru doll has a great deal of variety in its shape and pattern. The Tsugaru Kokeshi are made from a solid piece of wood, created using a difficult reverse lathe technique. The Tsugaru Kokeshi is the only strain to still use this method. The Tsugaru-kei developed after adults took an interest in buying more kokeshi as souvenirs from trips to the hot-spring resorts. Tsugaru dolls, which originated in the Aomori Prefecture in the region of the same name, are sometimes also known as Nuruyu dolls, originally fabricated by Hidetaro Mori. They made their appearance at Nuruyu (“lukewarm") Onsen, in the city of Kuroishi.
Collector's note – characteristics/painting style:
The dolls have round chests, thin waists, and cone-shaped lower bodies on which human faces are painted. They will strike you as quite unusual and interesting. One of the distinguishing features of this family of Kokeshi is a heavier hairstyle, in that most are Okappa styling, which has a full head of hair or mostly full head of hair in a bob style, and a chignon or topknot, without much decoration on the head. The hair is painted solid black, with brush strokes visible on the edges of the bangs and hair. One can easily recognize a Tsugaru doll because many will have the face of Daruma painted on the lower half of the body, with flowers painted on the doll looking quite realistic. The short history of the strain may not yet have given it enough time to utilize flowers such as White irises, peonies, and camellias. Stripes (Rokuro Moyo) appear at the top, center, or bottom of the doll. Some doll motifs, such as Ainu (native designs), that replace the Daruma image have simplified versions of peonies, irises, cherry blossoms, and camellia.
NOTE: We have seen a few dolls with the image of Daruma that were created by Sato, Zenji, (b.1925), in which he drew “feet” on the bottom with his signature, which was inspired by his mentor and master, Mori, Hidetori, (b1895), who used the same interesting humorous addition since kokeshi never incorporated feet.
Leading, Craftsmen:
Abo, Muchihide, 1950, (Hirosaki, Aomori) - Master: Sato, Zenji. No additional published information
Mori, Hidetaro, 1895 (Nuruya, Aomori) - Master: Mori, Motokichi. No additional published information
Mori, Mitsuo, 1955 - Masters: Mori, Hidetaro & Shin-ichi. No additional published information
Muramoto, Fumio, 1941- Master, Mori, Senzo. No additional published information
Okuse, Tetsunori, 1940 - Master: Mori, Hidetaro. No additional published information
Sato, Yoshiki, 1949, (Omani, Aomori) - Master: Mori, Hidetaro. No additional published information
Sato, Zenji, 1925, Master: Mori, Hidetaro. No additional published information
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