Yamaka Sanpei - Kokeshi Circa 1970 . - Kok200(6)

Born in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, Yamanaka began his artistic career as a photographer, after majoring in chemistry. Rather than developing a career in traditional doll making, he joined the Sosaku Kokeshi movement (contemporary free-form kokeshi). Winner of more than twenty between 1962-1989.
Influenced by Buddhism, the artist seeks out the play of color and wood grain, and clean and distinct shapes. The colors are always soft, must evoke those of the rainbow, this being “the highest possible state before reaching Nirvana, where individual desire and consciousness are sublimated”. The faces are expressive with an economy of means - The headdresses evoke the stupa, a concave structure where the bodily relics of Buddha were buried - We speak of a "Buddha bun".
A follower of Zen, the sobriety and spontaneity of the forms had to directly touch the viewer's sensitivity. Few lines or volumes but strong expressiveness. any superfluous detail is neglected. We can consider this type of doll as Zen Buddhist meditation statuettes.
Yamanaka Sanpei worked each piece alone, and signed with a broad touch. In this way, its pieces are numerically uncommon among all the kokeshis in circulation.

-- About kokeshis: they were toys for girls, or offered as a token of love or friendship; or symbolized the desire to have a healthy child. They would have a talisman function, are modesty, gentleness. They would also have a Buddhist origin. Their hairstyles evoking the Buddha bun. A notice on the artist as well as on the history and function of the kokeshis will be attached. This is a vintage doll that may have minor imperfections.