Vintage Gumma Kokeshi by Usaburo

Lovely Gumma kokeshi by Usaburo. 

Height: 18,5cm

weight: 240g

Mr Okamoto, the founder of Usaburo Kokeshi, was born in Shinto in 1917 and started to make kokeshi in 1950. He invented new styles by introducing techniques that use special machines as well as a manufacturing method using a wheel, and combined painting with a brush with carving and poker drawing methods. Poker drawing is the technique invented by Usaburo that expresses solidity well. Charmed by the beautiful grain of keyaki and chestnut, he paid attention to these trees as new materials of kokeshi, and enthusiastically studied methods for making kokeshi from these materials. He is a winner of many prizes including the Prize of the Minister of International Trade and Industry.