Japanese Folk Toy Sasano Ittobori Wood Carved Pair Sea Turtles Green

Description

Japanese Folk Toy Sasano Ittobori Wood Carved Pair Sea Turtles Green
DETAILS OF ITEM
The larger piece measures 3 inches long and the smaller one measures 1.5 inches long.
It is a folk toy called a Sasano-bori carving from Yonezawa city of Yamagata Prefecture of Japan. These toys were sold on the day of a temple festival market on January 17th.
This is a pair of sea turtles each carved from a single block of wood and then hand painted in green to complete the piece.  The shavings were cut up towards the body of the turtles and left in a natural curl.  This technique was used during the construction of Sasano Kannon temple in 807 or learned from the native Japanese Ainu tribe who were still living in this area long ago. Since the Edo period during Anei (1772-81), the feudal lord Uesugi Harunori encouraged the production of folk toys to supplement the income of the farmers during the long harsh winters.
Relatively unknown to the people of Tokyo, the Sasano folk toys were introduced for the first time when an owner of a folk toy shop in Tokyo had commissioned the craftsmen of Sasano to make the rooster carving for the year of the rooster in 1921. Since then it has become a famous traditional folkcraft cottage industry of Japan.
This particular piece has a stamp "Made in Japan" at the bottom and was originally made for export purposes in the 1950's making it that old. The condition of this piece is excellent because it is new from old stock and it comes with its original presentation box and description insert written in English.
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