Guard Hina Dolls
29 cm tall x 24.5 cm wide
Cat. 131608, 131609
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Gillette
© The Field Museum

A set of two guards is part of what is commonly considered a full set of fifteen hina dolls. They would make up the fourth tier on display for Hina Matsuri, or Girl's Day. These dolls are often mistakenly referred to as ministers, the Minister of the Left and Minister of the Right being important advisory positions to the emperor in the Heian period. However, it is commonly agreed that these dolls do not represent these political positions, but rather are guards. They carry swords and bows and arrows of wood and lacquered paper with silk cord accents. There is generally one young guard and one old guard in the set. While the young guard's face is usually coated with white gofun, or seashell paste, matching the other dolls in the set, the older guard's gofun often has pigment mixed in to give him a more natural skin tone.

The two guards wear matching clothing. These wear ho garments of gold-colored brocade with sashinuki hakama pants of blue brocade. The ho is a formal men's attire worn originating in the Heian period which has been worn throughout history and is still used today by the emperor on formal occasions, although the level of formality differs depending on several aspects of the dress. The hirao-no-tare, which hangs off of the belt in front, is of the same fabric as the ho. The sashinuki are a less formal type of hakama pants which have fuller, draping legs. They wear oikake, the fringed pieces on the sides of the head, and kanmuri hats with a long ei in the stiffened Edo style, curving up and behind the head. Although we cannot tell for certain, it is likely that these dolls were made in the toso technique of molded sawdust, rather than being carved of wood. They have glass eyes, the use of which dates the dolls to the Meiji period at the earliest.

These two dolls are part of a set with two dairi bina and five musicians, those on the two previous pages to this.


(Commentary by Helena Stenberg)

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