Kaga doll
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Kaga doll |
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HISTORY Kaga dolls are step sisters of gosho dolls, or Royal Courtier Dolls There are number of local toys, including Kaga dolls, Kaga shishigashira (lion heads), Kaga yahata okiagari and komekui nezumi (rice eating mice) to name a few. The style of local toys were brought from doll makers who came to serve Lord Maeda Tsunanori, the fifth lord of Kaga, and manufactured gosho dolls or dolls dressed like royal courtiers. Kaga's shishigashira were Kaga lords' favorite. When an heir was born, as the story goes, miniatures of lion heads were manufactured as the gifts for the new-born baby, a kind of roly-poly, and komekui nezumi are toys of papier-mache. These toys were made by low class samurai and helped them earn extra income when famines broke. CHARACTERISTICS Papie-mache toys are making use of the techniques of tricky mechanical dolls These toys were made for the children originally. As time went by, Kaga dolls and Kaga Lion Heads became more than toys but well wishing gifts for new-born baby boys. On the other hand, toys of papier-mache were favored by their cute appearances and mechanical movements and are marketed as handicrafts and gift items. |