Much like there are big dogs and little dogs, there are big kokeshis and there are small kokeshis. I happen to like them all, and here we see wonderful examples of each. The large one is indeed big -- about 34.5 cm -- and is by Mr. Sato Seiko 佐藤誠考さん from Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture. We bought this beauty last year at his temporary home on the side of Mt. Akagi in Gunma Prefecture. The concentric circles on the crown of the head tells us its a Yajiro-type kokeshi 弥次郎系こけし, and yet this is the only example I've ever seen of a black and yellow traditional kokeshi, Yajiro or otherwise. Beautiful work.
As you can see it dwarfs the little kokeshi which is only 10.5 cm. This innovative little one is a non-traditional Naruko-type kokeshi 鳴子系こけし by Mr. Kakizawa Yoshinobu 柿澤是伸さん, and while we visited the Kakizawa family's gallery on the mountain above Naruko Onsen last summer, we purchased it at the Miyagi Prefecture Exhibition in Ikeburo (see 2011 blogs for both events). To me this design of a child looking up is creative and new but still stays well within the bounds of traditional kokeshi making. Naoko displayed these two like this the other day and I had to share it in the blog.
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| A contrast in sizes. |
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| Big and small. |
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