Sōsaku kokeshi on wooden plank by Tamura Chie donguri acorn girl form with autumn leaf body decoration, signed, Shōwa period Japan

Donguri kokeshi by Tamura Chie, acorn girl with autumn leaves, signed, Shōwa period

Name: Japanese sosaku kokeshi Tamura Chie acorn donguri Showa | KAIKO&CO
Brand: KAIKO&CO
Price: 85.0 EUR
Availability: InStock

€85.00

She sits in your hand like a small warm stone. The form is a single unbroken sphere, no neck, no waist, no separation between head and body, just one continuous round shape with a tiny stem at the top and a face tucked quietly into the side. Two round eyes with lashes look out from between painted autumn leaves.

Her maker Chie is one of the few widely recognised female masters in the sōsaku tradition. She is known for translating natural forms directly into wood, and this piece is exactly that: not a doll holding a leaf motif, but a doll that is the thing itself, an acorn that became a girl, or a girl that became an acorn.

Tamura Chie works from Tamura Kogei, a creative kokeshi studio in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture. The same studio is also home to Tamura Noboru, one of the most celebrated names in sōsaku kokeshi and a Prime Minister Award winner. I have a kokeshi from him as well, you’ll find it under this page.

What makes this kokeshi special

The up close look and feel

The warm amber tone of the wood glows through the painted surface wherever the lacquer catches light. Up close the leaves have depth and variation: greens that shift toward yellow at the edges, warm browns layered underneath.

The face is very friendly, two round eyes with painted lashes sitting low on the sphere, and the effect is less like a doll's face and more like a creature peeking out from inside the wood. The small dark square base gives the piece somewhere to land without interrupting the form.

Charming details

The stem at the top is not painted on but turned from the same piece of wood as the body, a single unbroken form from base to tip. Most kokeshi have a separate head joined to a cylindrical body. This piece has neither: body and head are one continuous sphere, which required a different approach to the lathe entirely.

- Tamura Chie (田村千栄), born Watanabe Chie, active from Tamura Kogei studio, Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture.
- One of the few widely recognised female masters in the sōsaku (creative) kokeshi tradition.
- Multiple national award winner.
- Her signature series is known as Chiei Saku (千栄作).
- Tamura Kogei is also home to Tamura Noboru, Prime Minister Award winner and one of the most celebrated names in sōsaku kokeshi. Two artists, one studio, two distinct bodies of work.
- Signed: 千栄 seal stamp on base.
- Tamura Kogei studio in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, Japan.
- Estimated late Shōwa period, ca. 1970s to 1980s.
- Height: approx. 9 cm
- Width of the base: approx. 9 cm
- Weight: approx. 208 grams
- Good vintage condition consistent with age.
- There is a small area of lacquer wear near one of the green leaves on the side, consistent with age and handling over fifty years.
- Sōsaku kokeshi are finished with lacquer over painted wood.
- Dust with a dry soft cloth only; avoid water, oils and cleaning products.
- Keep out of prolonged direct sunlight, which fades painted surfaces over time.