Oshie Doll, Japan, Meiji (circa 1880), cm 21x19. The doll making has been elevated to art form in Japan, and Oshie dolls were extremely popular items among wealthy classes along the whole 19th century. They dolls were obtained recycling old, dismissed kimono silks, that were cut and fitted to padded cardboard outlines usually representing either a Geisha or a Samurai. Hands and faces were then hand painted, and the whole very much in the style of the Ukiyo-e genre. The results - dolls that are neither 2d nor 3d, rather something in between - were often brilliant, and used to decorate the rooms of little girls. The present lot fits this canonical procedure, with non-padded details delicately drawn with dark brown ink (see Geisha face and hand. The whole had been then mounted on heavier cardboard and a stick, as customary. Condition is great with just a tiny bit of wear on silks due to age. a rare, interesting and funky thing.