Usaburo Creative Kokeshi Doll – A Winter Day (13cm/5.1 inches)

This beautiful doll was made & signed by Okamoto Yuji (1948~) who is the eldest son of the Usaburo kokeshi founder – Okamoto Usaburo.

She’s wearing a beautiful, carefully carved green sweater with a brown jack on top of it. Her hair is also carved with a pretty and fashionable style.

The founder of the famous Usaburo kokeshi. Born in Gunma prefecture in 1917 and started making kokeshi dolls in 1950. He is considered to be a pioneer in the kokeshi world thanks to his original machines that he developed for kokeshi making and the way he revolutionized the carving and burning process by introducing new techniques.
He also explored using types of trees that haven’t been traditionally used before for kokeshi making, such as chestnut and keyaki (thanks to their wonderful ugrain). After a considerable effort he succeed in creating marvelous dolls out of them as well as flower vases. He won many prizes for his works, including the prize of the Minister of International Trade and Industry.

In mint condition, comes in the original box.

Height: 13cm / 5.1 inches