Tuesday 11 October 2011

KOKESHI LOVE



Mine and Swan's wish will come true because some of these bright little beauties are wending our way. I love Kokeshi - small wooden dolls originally from Northern Japan. They are handmade, usually have no arms or legs, a large head on a simple trunk, very rudimentary painted features and a floral pattern or scene on their body. I am even more fond of the contemporary interpretation of Kokeshi which will take numerous posts to cover but I have decided to start with our most recent acquisitions. Wish Come True are one of the brands bought to you by FriendsWithYou, established in 2002 by Miami based artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III. Don't you love their rainbow wibbly-wobbly happiness.




These are some traditional vintage Kokeshi from my collection, I think they have such a modern feel and would not look out of place on a shelf with some of our new toys.



Mark Giglio is an incredibly talented illustrator, designer and photographer living in Oakland, California. His wooden toys rock my boat!! Check out more of his fabulosity at PenPencilStencil.



A post on wooden dolls would just not be complete without those of Alexander Girard, one of the design fathers of the 20th Century, there is no official website but I love the collab between House Industries and the Girard family. I will do a separate post later covering more of his magnificence.

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