Six Miniature Japanese Clay Shunga Dolls with Concealed Painted Undersides
Six Miniature Japanese Clay Shunga Dolls with Concealed Painted Undersides
- 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 $40, 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 7 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
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
Very Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
A Hidden Joke in Six Parts
Seen from above, six cheerful clay figures: courtesans, a gallant and sleepers tucked under striped and flowered quilts. Turn each one over and a small painted scene of lovers appears, the old warai-e joke told in miniature folk clay.
Best for: Collectors of Japanese folk toys and concealed-scene shunga
Condition notes
Light dirt and small marks consistent with age; paint bright overall with minor rubbing at the edges. Six pieces, all present in the photographs.
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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Six painted clay folk dolls of courtesans, a gallant and sleepers under bright quilts, each keeping a small painted scene of lovers on its underside.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
Tsuchi ningyo, the fired and painted clay dolls of Japan's provincial potters, were sold at shrine fairs and roadside stalls as charms and keepsakes. Beside the lucky gods and zodiac animals there ran a quieter line made for adult amusement: figures that look entirely proper until they are turned over.
This set of six plays the game with real charm. Three seated figures, two courtesans with dressed hair and a man with a topknot, stand above three sleepers tucked under quilts striped in blue and white, scattered with camellias, or patterned with maple and dappled shibori. Beneath each one a small, frank scene of lovers is painted in the same lively hand, in the spirit of warai-e, the laughing pictures of the Edo print world.
The colours remain bright: vermilion, cobalt, orange, purple and leaf green over a white ground. No maker is recorded.
Details
- Subject: Courtesans, a gallant and sleepers, with concealed scenes beneath
- Type: Tsuchi ningyo, painted clay folk dolls
- Material: Fired clay, hand-painted
- Pieces: Six
- Size: Miniature; exact sizes being confirmed against our archive records
- Maker: Not recorded
- Date: Undated
- Made in: Japan
For exact measurements of each figure, please write to the Desk.
Condition
- Light dirt and small marks consistent with age.
- Minor rubbing to the paint at raised edges; colours bright overall.
- Every photograph is part of the description.
Condition grade B (very good) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as a set of six painted clay folk dolls by an unrecorded maker; no date or workshop is certified. Dust with a soft, dry brush and never wash painted clay.
Delivery from Japan
Each figure is wrapped separately in tissue and nested in a padded box, 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. Further pieces of the kind are kept in Shunga and Hidden Arts and among our Japanese dolls.
Concierge
Collecting folk clay or hidden-scene figures? 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.
Collectors also search: shunga clay dolls · tsuchi ningyo erotic · concealed scene folk toy
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