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| tiered stand for dolls |
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| The first owner of YODOKO GUEST HOUSE, the
eighth-generation head of his family, Tazaemon Yamamura, asked
Heizo Oki, the third-generation master craftsman of the doll
shop "Maruhei" in Kyoto, to make dolls for his first daughter
to celebrate her birthday. They took two years to finish,
from 1900 to 1901. |
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| A set of dolls and decorations with seven servant dolls |
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| A set five bride dolls, and lacquered bridal trousseau |
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| A set of seventeen dolls with cherry trees, pine trees, and willows, at a cherry viewing party |
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| "Maruhei,"
the crafter of these dolls, is a long-established doll shop
in Kyoto with over two hundred years of history since its
foundation in 1779, and is renown for the masterly performance
of its craftsmen.The style of these works places emphasis
on realistic description and historical background, and
mature works are admired as masterpieces of Kyoto and Girls
Festival dolls. The artist of the dolls, Heizo Oki, the
third-generation master craftsman, received the Gold Prize
at the Paris Exposition in France in 1890, and the President's
Prize at the 3rd National Industrial Exhibition in 1891.
He was the most prestigious doll craftsman of his time,
and a number of his works have been delivered to the Royal
Family and nobility.
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A
number of processes in doll crafting, such as head making,
are performed by specialists, and it is a doll craftsman's
job to put these pieces together and finish the doll. At
"Maruhei," not only the finishing process, but also the
process of dressing the doll was done by the master. From
choosing and fitting clothes and "defining arm position,"
to deciding the expressions of arms and hands, important
work at the final process is done in the same way as one
hundred years ago. People who do such work are called "Shokuakindo"
in Japanese, and "Maruhei" 's original dolls are made the
same way they were one hundred years before. The skills
and hearts of the craftsmen are put into each stage of the
process to bring the dolls to life. "Maruhei" 's dolls are
especially treasured because so few can be made at one time
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The dolls were made by craftsmen specialized
in different stages of their production. The faces
of the dolls were made by the person who was renown
as the best craftsman of doll's heads at the time,
and they have very classic features.Moreover, the
chalk used for finishing the faces and hands at that
time was different than at present, because its main
ingredient, seashells, is no longer the same due to
changes in the natural environment. It is said, therefore,
that it is impossible to recreate their distinctive
texture. The dolls are 45 cm in height, which is large
for Girls Festival Dolls, and attests that they are
of the finest quality, made with the excellent craftsmanship
and materials of the time. |
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