Featured Small Japanese doll with hair, Gofun? Gosho?

She looks very old to my old eyes.
Unfortunately she has lost her hands.
Figure is 3" tall not including the wood base.
Appears to be bisque or clay, The clothing is silk and is also painted.
The hair is real thick and her face is kind of dirty, i worried about cleaning it up?
Any and all thoughts welcomed.
Mikey

 

Hmm. An Ichimatsu doll?

 

Yes, it is a hand made Ichimatsu doll, with a Gofun paste face. Lovely.

 

would you say she or he is very old?

 

Asian dolls are a special type of doll collecton, and I really don't know anything about them.

If the face was painted bisque, then a mild soap and water solution on a soft cloth would usually do the cleaning.'

However, as AJ ID'd the face as Gofun (something I just learned of today....TY AJ!), I would not clean it at all until I found more info.

https://art-design-glossary.musabi.ac.jp/gofun-chalk-3/

 

A dim memory fragment leads me to ask whether she should have a drum?

 

Possibly, but the problem is that the hands are missing.

 

Mikey already put Gofun in the title, I just said it was the face.

 

Ahhhhh......and so he did!

Thank you AJ!

Sorry Mickey!

 

The headgear is what leads me to think so.

 

It is the same headdress Japanese Shinto priests wear, and there are drums at Shinto temples.

 

Thank you all so very much. I am adding this one to me Japanese collection. I did go over her face a little with a
q-tip and looks much better with no paint loss. There was something attached to her chest area. there is still a piece of wood there.
Mikey

 

Maybe that was the drum Bronwen mentioned.
It is still very sweet, even without hands and accessory.

 

This doll is called kimekomi.
She is carved wood with fabric on top.
Grooves are cut into the wood. The fabric is cut to fit each section. Each section of fabric is pushed into the groove with a pointed tool.