Exhibition Room 2　Japan's Ningyo from the Collection

Saga Ningyo

Saga ningyo are also called okiage ningyo, built-up figures. In Saga ningyo, the figure is carved of wood. Layers of gofun, a white pigment made of ground seashells, are applied to it repeatedly to create three-dimensional motifs, and then the figure is finished in vivid colors. Since the technique is similar to those used in carving Buddhist images, it is thought that Saga ningyo may have originally made as a hobby by Kyoto sculptors of Buddhist images. (Saga is part of Kyoto.)

Saga ningyo present the nude forms of children quite realistically and are likely to have influenced the later development of gosho ningyo.