- 119
Japan
Estimate
800 - 1,200 GBP
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Description
- Hina Matsuri Figures
- mixed media including painted egg-shell plaster, silk, brocade and tatami
- each aproximately 31cm., 12¼in.
- Made circa 1925.
Condition
Gallery inspection recommended as very distressed. Painted plaster with dirt. Losses. Silk tired with splits. Losses to Tatami with losses.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
These finely worked dolls were presented to Yeats in 1927 by the Japanese poet and essayist Dr Yano Kazumi (1893-1988). Yano visited Thoor Ballylee in July 1927, and sought help from Yeats for commentary on his edition of Select Poems of William Butler Yeats (Tokyo, 1928). He also intended to translate some of George Yeats's plays (see W.B. Yeats & George Yeats: The Letters, ed. Saddlemyer (2011), p.194, n.3). The dolls are dairi-bina, a pair representing an Emperor and Empress made for the Hina Matusri. This Spring festival has been celebrated by families with young girls since the Edo Period in Japan. The celebration involved an intricate altar in which miniature figures, such as the dolls here, would be arranged by rank.
W. B. Yeats had a deep interest in Japanese culture, expressed most famously in his adoption of techniques from Noh theatre in plays such as At The Hawks Well and The Death of Cuchulain: "With the help of Japanese plays ... I have invented a form of drama, distinguished, indirect and, symbolic, and having no need of mob or press to pay its way – an aristocratic form ('Certain Noble Plays of Japan', 1916).