Ittobori Old Couple of Takasago w/Pine Tree

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Wonderful ittobori carving of the "Old Couple of Takasago" which includes the famous pine tree!

Briefly, Ittobori is a carving technique. The name literally means "one chisel cut". You see the angles made by the chisel, they are not smoothed out. An art form that goes back hundreds of years, the most popular subjects are Noh and the 12 Animals of the Zodiac.

The "old couple" is a noh play. The man's name is Jo and carries a rake and his wife is Uba with broom in hand. They symbolize long life and happiness and these story dolls are often given as wedding gifts. He rakes in the good, she sweeps out the bad. The rake and broom heads should always be pointed upward.

This is a very large, heavy set. The stand measures 11-3/8" x 7-1/2" x 2-1/2" high. The pine tree is 11-1/4" high and the dolls are about 6-1/2" tall. The overall height is almost 14".

It's at least 50+ years old and it's age is showing. It looks like it has been stored for many years in not the best of conditions. There is quite a bit of dust soiling. The tree and Jo have water type spots but they are probably from humidity. The green paint on the tree is powdering off and the brown underneath is showing through. On the front bottom of the trunk are flat areas with glue which indicates perhaps flowers or the like were once attached. Jo, as mentioned, has spots as well as a couple of vertical scratches on his right cheek. During transit, a small piece of wood broke off from his back and the rake handle broke in two but both have been glued back. The rake is also missing one tine or tooth. Uba has a few paint chips on her wonderful flowing kimono as well as a large spot on the back where the paint has worn or powdered off. Her broom stick is cracked and so the head will not be upwards as is normally seen. Both dolls were once glued to the stand but will be left unglued for easier shipping.

This set is so amazingly detailed and quite unusual. A signature, unfortunately, cannot be found.

This product was added to our catalog on Saturday 21 April, 2007.