Kimekomi Doll
Twentieth Century
13.5 cm tall x 12.2 cm wide
Cat. 271681
Gift of Nathaniel Grey
© The Field Museum

This doll depicts the style of dress of a young boy at court in the Heian period, 794-1192 AD. He wears a karaginu robe of light beige and hakama pants of maroon with a mon, or family crest, pattern. Under the karaginu robe he wears a hitoe, or under-kimono layer, of orange. His hair is in the sage-mizura style worn by young sons of courtiers in the Heian period. The doll is made in the kimekomi style, in which the doll was carved or molded into the shape of the finished doll, including clothing folds and draping, then covered with pieces of fabric to give the illusion of clothing.


(Commentary by Helena Stenberg)

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