Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Immigration Act of 1924 prohibited East Asians from immigrating to the United States, 
which increased tension between the US and Japan. Dr. Sidney Gulick was a former missionary who spent time in Japan between 1888 and 1913. He was familiar with how important dolls are in Japanese culture, and to promote goodwill between the countries he initiated a program to send dolls from the US to children in Japan.
In 1927, the first project was to organize the sending of 12,739 friendship dolls, also known as American blue-eyed dolls to Japan. These dolls arrived in time for Hinamatsuri, the annual Japanese doll festival.
After receiving almost 13,000 dolls as gifts from American children in early 1927, Japan wanted to do something special to express their thanks. Eiichi Shibusawa, a Japanese businessman and educator, organized the collection of money from children throughout Japan to pay for the making of 58 special dolls to be sent to America.
Sadly, just 14 short years after America received the Japanese Friendship Dolls, Japan and the US were fighting each other in World War II. During the war, many of the Friendship Dolls were stored away, sold, or lost.
which increased tension between the US and Japan. Dr. Sidney Gulick was a former missionary who spent time in Japan between 1888 and 1913. He was familiar with how important dolls are in Japanese culture, and to promote goodwill between the countries he initiated a program to send dolls from the US to children in Japan.In 1927, the first project was to organize the sending of 12,739 friendship dolls, also known as American blue-eyed dolls to Japan. These dolls arrived in time for Hinamatsuri, the annual Japanese doll festival.
After receiving almost 13,000 dolls as gifts from American children in early 1927, Japan wanted to do something special to express their thanks. Eiichi Shibusawa, a Japanese businessman and educator, organized the collection of money from children throughout Japan to pay for the making of 58 special dolls to be sent to America.
Sadly, just 14 short years after America received the Japanese Friendship Dolls, Japan and the US were fighting each other in World War II. During the war, many of the Friendship Dolls were stored away, sold, or lost.
saurce by www.wikipedia.com
Japanese modern era dolls
Silk-skinned or "mask-face" dolls became a popular craft in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s, allowing the individual to design elaborate kimono for dolls representing women of various periods of Japanese history, particularly the Edo period. Dolls of this type continued to be made and were a popular item for servicemen and tourists to bring back after World War II, though they also might choose dolls representing similar subjects made with gofun faces. Kuroda bushi, Hakata ningyō Bisque dolls are made of fired clay. Fukuoka is a traditional center of the manufacture of bisque dolls, and Hakata ningyō are famous throughout Japan.Each Japanese doll was equipped with a variety of accessories, including lacquer chests, a silk parasols, two pedestal lanterns, passports, steamship tickets, and goodwill letters.When the 58 Japanese Friendship Dolls arrived in the US, they were greeted warmly and went on a tour of the country for several months before being distributed to museums in the various states.
Edo Dolls
During the Edo period (about 1603-1867), when Japan was closed to most trade, there developed both fine dollmakers and a market of wealthy individuals who would pay for the most beautiful doll sets for display in their homes or as valuable gifts. Sets of dolls came to include larger and more elaborate figures, and more of them. The competitive trade was eventually regulated by government, meaning that doll makers could be arrested or banished for breaking laws on materials and height.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Japanese Doll
There are various types of Japanese dolls, some representing children and babies, some the imperial court, warriors and heroes, fairy-tale characters, gods and (rarely) demons, and also people of the daily life of Japanese cities. Dolls have been manufactured since the earlydays of Japanes culture. Today, there ezist various types of Japan dolls. Many have a long tradition and are still made today, for household shrines, for formal gift-giving, or for festival celebrations such as Hinamatsuri, the doll festival, or Kodomo no Hi, Children's Day. Japanese tradition prescribes the doll hold fans, flowers, ornaments or other Japanese objects. Each doll usually represents a Japanese folk tale or a piece of history. Some are manufactured as a local craft, to be purchased by pilgrims as a souvenir of a temple visit or some other trip.
In the early eleventh century, around the peak of the Heian period, several types of dolls had already been defined, as known from Lady Murasaki's novel The Tale of Genji. Girls played with dolls and doll houses; women made protective dolls for their children or grandchildren; dolls were used in religious ceremonies, taking on the sins of a person whom they had touched
source by http://www.wikipedia.com/
Monday, August 24, 2009
A doll is an object that represents a baby or other human being. Dolls have been around since the dawn of human civilization, and have been fashioned from a vast array of materials, ranging from stone, clay, wood, bone, cloth and paper, to porcelain, china, rubber and plastic.
A porcelain doll from the Czech Republic
While dolls have traditionally been toys for children.In ancient times, dolls were used as representations of a deity, and played a central role in religious ceremonies.
Dolls are used by health professionals, medical schools and social workers to train doctors and nurses in various health procedures.
History
Dolls have been a part of humankind since prehistoric times. Used to depict religious figures or used as playthings, early dolls were probably made from primitive materials such as clay, fur, or wood. No dolls have survived from prehistoric times, although a fragment of an alabaster doll with movable arms from the Babylonian period was recovered.
Dolls were also buried in Greek and Roman children's graves. Girls from Greece and Rome dedicated their wooden dolls to goddesses after they were too "grown-up" to play with dolls.
Most ancient dolls that were found in children's tombs were very simple creations, often made from such materials as clay, rags, wood, or bone. Some of the more unique dolls were made with ivory or wax. The main goal was to make the doll as "lifelike" as possible. That ideal lead to the creation of dolls with movable limbs and removable garments, dating back to 600 B.C.
In addition to wooden dolls, wax dolls were popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. Munich was a major manufacturing center for wax dolls. One of the first dolls that portrayed a baby was made in England from wax at the beginning of the 19th century.
Porcelain became popular at the beginning of the 19th century. Porcelain is made by firing special clays in a kiln at more than 2372 degrees Fahrenheit.The French "bebe" was popular in the 1880s, and it has become a highly sought after doll today. French dolls were unrivaled in their artistry, German bisque dolls became quite popular because they were not as expensive. Kammer & Reinhardt introduced a bisque character doll in the 1900s, starting a trend of creating realistic dolls.
After World War II, doll makers experimented with plastics. Hard plastic dolls were manufactured in the 1940s. They resembled composition dolls, but they were much more durable. Other materials used in doll manufacturing included rubber, foam rubber, and vinyl in the 1950s and 1960s. Vinyl changed doll making, allowing doll makers to root hair into the head, rather than using wigs or painting the hair. Although most dolls are now mass-manufactured using these modern materials, many modern doll makers are using the traditional materials of the past to make collectible dolls
source by www.ctdollartists.com
;;
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
