Japanese Folk Toy Simple Wooden Articulated Benta Doll

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Japanese Folk Toy Simple Wooden Articulated Benta Doll IMPORTANT NOTES Please know that items purchased from us will be shipped direct from California. Your item will arrive much sooner and the shipping cost will be far less than items being shipped direct from Japan. Take advantage of our combined shipping to save even more! DETAILS OF ITEM This piece measures 6" tall. This is the "Benta Doll" from "Hinagu" of Kumamoto Prefecture of Japan. She is a rustic round wooden doll made of Kiri (Paulownia) wood with vivid paint that is reminiscent of famous Kokeshi dolls of northern Japan. Separate wooden legs and arms are attached to the body with red cloth so that they articulate. T are various sizes available and some of them come as tall as 8" high and girls used to play by carrying it on their back. Hinagu is a famous hot spring resort of Kumamoto Prefecture of Japan and many folk toys have been made as the souvenir for the tourists and Benta doll is one of them. T used to be many craftsmen to produce these various toys from 1870's to early 1930's but they are all but gone except Kuwabara Kenjiro and his family. The name Benta derives from the name of the original creator of this doll "Benta" during the Bunsei period (1818-1830). He was said to be a Korean immigrant using remnant Kiri wood material from Geta clog production as most of the folk toys from Hinagu were made. Hinagu is known for its Geta production because many good quality Kiri trees grow in this area. The doll is also called the "Okin-jyo" doll modeled after a girl from a nearby fishing village who helped to find a hot spring with Rokurouzaemon. He was a son of Hamada Ukon, a very important warrior for the Kumamoto lord. When Ukon was injured during a battle, his son Rokurouzaemon came to pray at Ichikishima Shinto Shrine to find a healing hot spring for his father and with the help from Okin, he finally found the present day Hinagu hot spring. It used to be a custom to buy this Benta doll at the Hinagu festival. The original Benta dolls are simple wooden doll without limbs just like the Kokeshi dolls but the arms and legs were added in the mid-Meiji period (1868-1912). The condition of this piece is very good and her age is from the 1960's. PLEASE VISIT MY EBAY STORE BY CLICKING THE LINK ABOVE TO EASILY BROWSE BY CATEGORY ALL OF THE OTHER JAPANESE ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES THAT ARE UP FOR AUCTION THIS WEEK. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE BOOKMARK OUR AUCTIONS TO EASILY FIND US. THANKS FOR VIEWING THIS AUCTION.A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES:If you have any questions concerning this or other items we have up for auction, please don't hesitate to email me for an answer. We will do our best to email you a reply within one day. It is best to get your questions in early since we may not be available to respond to you within minutes or hours of the auction end. Of course, we will try to reply if it is possible. For all of those who wish to combine items, please email me to let me know of your intent and I will email you confirming this. This allows us to keep your winning items aside until you are ready to finalize your purchases. Items can only be combined for a two week period starting with the earliest winning item marking the beginning of the period. California residents will be charged a sales tax of 8.75% unless a valid California resale card is on file with us. Paypal, Money order or cashier's check allows fast shipping. Personal checks wait 10 days. Thanks for looking and best of luck with your bid!Buyer pays actual shipping. Your item will be shipped domestically using either USPS priority mail, USPS first class mail or UPS ground service. The one limitation with UPS is that they only ship to a physical address not to a US Postal PO Box address. On rare... read more

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