Vintage Sosaku Kokeshi by Murakami, Ken-ichi
Dimensions: 3-0”h
These truly innocent Kokeshi children are simply turned, with an Ikat motif designed with a wood-burning too, and typical of children throughout Japan. The children, in casual dress, an easy to go from the bath to the house.
Each show what is called a ‘Nihongami’ hairstyle with side hair fringes, which are distinctive in their construction, and play a role in society. This type of Yukata is customary, particularly on this day, because children take baths known as ‘syobuyu’. The private and public baths are filled with floating iris, which is an important flower during this celebration.
Condition: Excellent meaning that the piece retains its original craft/workmanship showing a wonderful-developed patina commensurate which suggests a degree of wear that corresponds to its vintage. It is void of damage, cracks, breakage, or repairs and meets all the standards of the collectible Sosaku Kokeshi.
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Artisan | Woodworker: Murakami, Kenichi | 1929-
Origin:
A multi-award winner, Murakami-san was born in Yamagata City. Though his family were well-known woodcraftsmen, Kenichi studied oil painting in the early 1940s, but began training and creating Sosaku Kokeshi by 1946. He primarily creates dolls with minimal decoration, with an emphasis on a variety of woodworking techniques. He is a multi-prize winning artist including the coveted Prime Minister Award.
Collector's note – descriptive qualities, standard characteristics & ornamentation styles:
This artist loved to capture the innocence of a young child. Murakami-san prided himself on producing wonderful, textural pieces created by deep carving and horizontal cut lines to suggest and reinforce the subject. His dolls could be painted, like illustrating the yukata, or left unornamented using simple lines to suggest the use of a snow coat, (Mino) during the winter season. Sumi’-e was often employed to capture the spirit of the subject.
Artist's signature:
