a potent image in Japanese art. Live horses were once donated to Shintō shrines as offerings. The expense and burden of this type of gift-giving led to the practice of donating painted images of horses called ema. The horse had a long association with the military classes, and skill on a horse was one of the defining characteristics of the early samurai, codified in the expression "way of the horse and bow" The tradition of young boys being led on a horse to a shrine for their first visit was later replaced by a ride on a wheeled horse, at least part of the way Later versions of these wheeled horses had spring mechanisms mounted within to provide a more comfortable ride. An image of a horse emerging out of a gourd connoted something unexpectedly delightful.
The hobbyhorse is referred to in Japanese as either harukoma (spring horse) or as takeuma (bamboo horse). As a children's toy, it developed out of a riding game using bamboo stalks as play horses. A bamboo stalk would be stripped of most of its branches and leaves, leaving only a cluster at the end to simulate the tail. A string would be attached to the front in an approximation of reins. References to takeuma appear as early as the tenth century. A popular pastime, their construction gradually grew more sophisticated. The bamboo stalk was eventually replaced by a wooden dowel, heads fashioned of paper gave added realism, cloth was attached at the neck, and a small wheel was placed on the end of the dowel.
Harukoma were also an integral part of New Year festivities, where itinerant performers would travel from house to house carrying a harukoma to usher in good luck for the coming year. This good-luck talisman was also employed in hōsō-e imagery to help dispel the smallpox god (hōsō-gami). Images of harukoma in red would be pasted on the front door or on bedroom screens (mukura byōbu). After the illness left the patient, these images would then be burned or set adrift, carrying away with them the smallpox god. Often pictured in woodblock prints depicting activities around the gogatsu festival of Boy's Day, the hobbyhorse itself was also perceived as a symbol of fertility Smaller paper hobbyhorses were sold at temples in reference to one of the six primary manifestations of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, called Bato Kannon (Horse-headed Kannon), who serves as both a protector of animals, and in popular belief, an expeller of evil spirits.
Standing gosho-ningyō with hobbyhorse
Edo period, 19th century
Height 15 inches
Rosen Collection
Seated gosho-ningyō with drum
Edo period, 19th century
Height 15 1/2 inches
Ayervais Collection
Gosho holding such a horse were referred to as harukoma mochi gosho, or "spring horse holder." They represent a multi-textural image that held many different associations during the Edo period.
The example on page 30 is an exceptionally elegant rendition. The standing figure is clothed in a rare satin weave kosode kimono with bold embroidered floral images. His hair is executed in a binboku or chigowa style with two broad loops. The horse itself is crafted of papier mâché with inset glass eyes and an embroidered silk crepe neck cloak. His hands are particularly well formed, with unusually long, tapering fingers. The arms are connected to the body by a cloth-padded wire, allowing for shifts in arm position.
Seated Gosho-ningyō with Drum
Children and drums seem to have a universal connection, the urge to make noise irresistible. Hand-held drums in Japan have a long tradition. Their earliest historical documentation is connected with Nara period (710-94) bugaku (religious dance) performances. Structurally very different from Western snare-type drums, Japanese "bean drums" are mounted to a long post with beans attached by strings to the side of the drum. As the drum is twirled back and forth between the hands, the beans strike the drum face. By the Heian period (794-1185), these drums had evolved into children's toys and are referenced in the diaries of the time. By the Muromachi period (1392-1573), they had become quite widespread with a multitude of forms and regional variations and distributed across all classes of society
Simple in form and structure, these drums were known by many different names: furi-tsuzumi, buriburi taiko, garagara. Most were double-faced drums with glue-fortified paper tympanums. More elaborate versions had leather faces with copper wire reinforcement. The denden-taiko was particular in its structure, with two or three drums stacked in alternating positions, each with a string and striking bead attached, tripling the noise potential.
The denden-taiko appears to have been a particularly popular children's toy in the urban centers of Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto and features prominently in many woodblock prints depicting children and their pastimes. A Horeki-era (1751-63) lullaby goes:
| Nenne no omori wa dokoe itta | Where did the babysitter go? |
| Ano yama koete sato e itta | Over the mountain to visit her home. |
| Sato no omiyagi nani moratta | What did she bring back as a souvenir? |
| A Denden-taiko ni shō nojue | A denden-taiko and a flute, |
| Oki agari kobōshi ni furizutsumi | round Daruma doll and a hand drum. |
| Tataite kikasuni nenne shina | I will play it for you. |
| Nennen nen nen koroi | Go to sleep, go to sleep. |
As with many Japanese toys, the denden-taiko and other drum forms had close associations with shrines and were held to have special protective powers. During the Meiji era, it became common for a child to receive a clay dog with a denden-taiko attached to its back during his or her first visit to a shrine. In Fukuoka Prefecture, for example, a toy drum called a batabata (an onomatopoeic name) is decorated with the images of popular children's heroes. It is sold at shrine and temple fairs around New Year and is seen as a charm against illness and misfortune. In Tochigi Prefecture, a simple bean drum with a small paper figure attached to the top is derived from a local rain drum tradition.
The gosho-ningyō on page 31 holds aloft in his left hand a three-tiered denden-taiko. Though seated, his form is slightly twisted, with his upper body moving to the left and his head looking to the right. The top of his hair is bare, exposing a small, oblong patch of gofun in imitation of a nakasori hairstyle. The bib bears embroidered takaramono (treasure) images, including the tama (wish-fulfilling gem), the money mallet, crossed rhinoceros horn prized for their fertility, a market weight, and a coin.
Mizuhiki-de Gosho
One of the particular characteristics of the gosho form when compared to other ningyō genres is its three-part construction (mitsuwari), where the head, the legs, and the arms form almost three equal sections of the overall piece. Compared to real life, this makes the head much larger than what would be considered "normal," hence the name zudai or "large head" ningyō, which was a common name for gosho-ningyō during the Edo period. This aspect is further strengthened by the relatively small facial features placed close together at the center of the broad expanse of the face.
Beginning in the late eighteenth century, gosho-ningyō that were crafted and presented as formal or celebratory gifts (iwaimono) were frequently executed with
