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Michael Evans and Robert Wolf, Kokeshi:
Wooden Treasures of Japan, a Visual Exploration (Vermillion
Press: Carmel, California, 2005)
Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan, a Visual
Exploration by
Michael Evans and Robert Wolf is a visually exciting
and intellectually engaging exploration of a charming
aspect of Japanese folk art called Kokeshi. Kokeshi
are a traditional wooden (lathe or hand-carved) doll
that appeared in the late eighteenth century or early
nineteenth century as a toy, and later became tourist
wares. Formally, they are abstracted anthropomorphic
figures (either elongated and elegant, or squat and sweet)
and as toys-cum-tourist treasures, they showcase the
Japanese talent for nuanced decoration, paired with graphic
rendering of human characteristics – all accomplished
with a delightful economy of means. Conforming to conventions
of shape and content - with sparks of innovation
present in the more contemporary work - these beguiling
toys have not received the academic attention they deserve
and this dazzling book is the first in English to provide
systematic information, as well as an informative (and
stunning) visual record.
As often happens with new areas of scholarship, the critical early steps are
taken by dealers who know the material first-hand. This is the case here. Gathering
from sources both antidotal and documented, the authors position the history
of Kokeshi as folk art manifestations and cultural artifacts. With over 400 artists
currently working in the field, the authors state that “[a]s supporter[s]
of traditional folk crafts and arts, our aim in producing this book has been
to transmit faithfully not only the visual beauty of the Kokeshi doll, but to
add to their historical base and origins, and to also impart a little of the
importance of keeping alive the tradition involved in folk arts.” Underpinning
this preservation of folk traditions is a text that describes specific doll types
in detail, while informing the reader of relevant cultural history, including
the traditional use of Kokeshi to embody folkloric characters; for example, describing
the Oshin’s (babysitter) figure and its place within the Japanese
rural culture. Such tidbits enrich understanding and hint at the larger importance
of Kokeshi as cultural expression and marker.
Authors Evans and Wolf
are long-time devotees of Japanese culture and their twice yearly trips
to secure wares for their shop have paid off in their hands-on experience of
Kokeshi. Inspired by their love of the form, the book illustrates the wide variety
of dolls, roughly categorized as either dento (representing traditional
style) and sosaku (encompassing the creative), along with their multiple
sub-categories. Details such as the woods used (mizuki, birch, cedar,
cherry, maple, elm, camellia), fabrication methodologies, and decorative schemes
are highlighted. Threaded throughout the text are oversized photographic images
of individual Kokeshi, often with the marks of the makers incorporated into the
design. This links visual information to content while honing the connoisseur’s
eye.
A note should be made about the sensitive and intelligent design by Ann Gallenson
of A Charles Design, Inc. Vivid red paper with white text serves as the cover,
followed by two semi-transparent sheets that screen the modest and beguiling Osono Kokeshi
(female dancer) who gazes out from the title page. As a delicious nuance, her
profile is graphically rendered on the backcover, suggesting a Japanese kanji (calligraphic
stroke) or even a string of folded paper. The overall format of the book is elegantly
elongated, as the dolls are, with nuances of design that turn, for example, the
recording of marks (of interest to any scholar) into a design feature on each
page. Lavishly illustrated with over 300 images of Kokeshi, each element honors
the work and captures the inherent winsomeness of Kokeshi dolls.
Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan, a Visual Exploration
offers both a beautiful object in its own right and a clarifying history
of the dolls, leavened with nuances of cultural history and custom. For the general
reader the book offers many delights, and for the specialist collector of Kokeshi,
the images and marks will aid them for years to come.
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