Keshi Dairi Bina Dolls
Twentieth Century
12-14.5 cm tall x 17 cm wide
Cat. 266653-266854
The Mr. and Mrs. Ernest F. Schmidt and Marjorie Schmidt Wood Collection
© The Field Museum

This pair of dairi-bina dolls depicting a couple of the Imperial Court is of a type called keshi bina, or miniature hina, because of their small size. Each measures approximately four and a half inches high. Even on such a small scale, the standards and styles of the hina dolls are maintained. The dolls wear court dress, with garments that, other than changes in style and accessory, have remained in use for formal ceremonies by the Imperial Court from the Heian period (794-1192) to today. The prince wears a ho, the coat and most visible part of the dress, of gold-colored gilt brocade. Underneath the ho garment, five plain white hitoe, layers of under-kimono, are worn. These can be seen at the neck and also a bit at the ends of the sleeves. He wears white hakama pants underneath the ho garment. The hirao-no-tare, the hanging banner from the belt in front, has four layers of beigi, brown, white, and red brocade. He carries an ornamental sword called kazatachi.

The lady wears the junihitoe dress, a formal court lady costume originating in the Heian period, literally meaning twelve layers (of hitoe, an underlayer of kimono). She wears five layers of white hitoe under-kimono. These can be seen layered at the neckline and at the ends of the sleeves. Over this is the uwagi, or topmost layer of kimono, in red brocade. Finally, she wears the karaginu over-garment in red and gold gilt brocade. She has a gold crown, which, although never worn as part of actual court dress, has been a part of me-bina, or Imperial lady doll, costume since the mid-Edo period, with the Kyoho hina dolls. She holds a wooden fan with silk cord accents. Each doll sits on a three tier base, the bottom two layers of lacquered wood and the top of silk covered wood.

These were donated as part of the set featured on the previous page, but as their size is signifcantly larger than the rest of the set, it is likely that they are not the dairibina pair that goes with the set.


(Commentary by Helena Stenberg)

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