Seated Bijin Ceramic Doll with a Hidden Shunga Scene Beneath, Lilac Kimono and Dressed Coiffure, about 14 cm
Seated Bijin Ceramic Doll with a Hidden Shunga Scene Beneath, Lilac Kimono and Dressed Coiffure, about 14 cm
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- United States · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $43, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
With EMS, any charge is collected by your postal service on delivery. For pieces of significant value we can often arrange duties prepaid before dispatch.
How the estimate is reached · Ask for a figure on this piece
- Character
- Ornate 6.9 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
| Figure | cm | in |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 14.0 cm | 5.5 in |
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
Where each figure is taken · View the plate
Object, sculpture and ceramics
Condition report
Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
A Beauty with a Secret
A woman kneels in a lilac kimono scattered with flower roundels, her obi tied in russet and orange and her glossy black hair dressed high. Only when she is lifted does the joke appear: the underside of her robe opens on to an intimate scene in low relief, the warai-e wit of the hidden arts.
Best for: Collectors of Japanese beauty dolls and hidden-scene curiosities
Condition notes
Wear and soiling consistent with age: rubbed paint at the hem edges and folds, a few small white flecks where the paint has lifted, and light soiling on the base. No breaks are described or seen.
Grades, ratings and commentary are given to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience, and condition remains partly a matter of personal perception. What we stand behind without qualification is authenticity, truthful description and provenance, to the best of our knowledge. How we grade
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All sales are final. Please read our refund policy before purchase.
Considered offers only. The Desk replies personally to figures made in good faith; those set far below the asking price receive no reply.
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A kneeling beauty in a lilac kimono, modelled in painted ceramic, whose underside conceals an intimate scene in low relief.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
The bijin, the idealised beauty, was a favourite subject of Japanese doll makers, and some of them liked to give a demure figure a hidden second life. Seen upright, this one is all composure: she kneels with her hands resting on her lap, her head turned a little aside, her glossy black hair dressed high in a classic coiffure. Her lilac kimono is scattered with flower roundels and pale cartouches, the hem spreading in folds striped like a fan, with orange underlayers at the collar and a russet obi patterned with a dark chrysanthemum.
Lift her, and the base reveals the secret: the underside of the robe opens on to a reclining nude figure in low relief, framed by the red lining of the kimono. Such concealed scenes belong to the playful tradition of warai-e, the laughing pictures, in which propriety and pleasure share the same object.
In one photograph a blue mark was laid over the picture for discretion; it is not on the figure.
Details
- Subject: Kneeling beauty (bijin) with a hidden scene on the base
- Material: Painted unglazed ceramic
- Height: About 14 cm (5.5 in), read from the measuring photographs
- Width and depth: Being confirmed against our archive records
- Maker: Unsigned; maker unrecorded
- Made in: Japan
The Desk will gladly confirm the full measurements on request.
Condition
- Rubbed paint at the hem edges and folds, and a few small flecks where the paint has lifted.
- Light soiling on the base from age.
- No breaks described or seen.
- Every photograph is part of the description.
Condition grade C (good) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as an older painted ceramic figure; unsigned and undated. Handle with dry hands, lift from the base rather than the head, and keep away from damp.
Delivery from Japan
The doll is wrapped in tissue, cushioned on all sides and boxed, then shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything you wish to know before you buy, and see our published policy.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. Kindred pieces are kept in Shunga and Hidden Arts and among our okimono, figurines and statues.
Concierge
Searching for Hakata beauties or other hidden-scene dolls? Our Hunting Salon™ locates such pieces across Japan's private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers them to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
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