Customer Reviews

Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I go to extreme length to find informative publications on Japanese dolls, and a friend presented me with this exciting new publication. The authors have threaded throughout the text, oversized photographic images of individual Kokeshi, often with the marks of the makers incorporated into the design. This links visual information to content while honing the collector's eye. I take my book to every flea market to support my buying of these wonderful Japanese dolls.

Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan, a Visual Exploration
offers both a beautiful object in its own right and a clarifying history of the dolls, leavened with nuances of cultural history and custom. For the general reader the book offers many delights, and for the specialist collector of Kokeshi, the images and marks will aid them for years to come.

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I bought the book...Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan...Fantastic Book and a MUST for all of you Kokeshi collectors out there!
Merry Christmas!

I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to receive this book! This book was created by two gentlemen who know and understand the various forms of Japanese folk arts, having collected many items while traveling extensively in Japan. Both Mr. Wolf and Mr. Evans have backgrounds in Architecture and Graphic Design. The pictures of kokeshi are well done and include small insets of the artists' signatures , which elevate this book to a must-have for anyone interested in collecting and and understanding the nuanced differences of these delightful dolls. There aren't many books on this subject and even fewer in English, so this is the one to have!

an attractively designed and beautifully bound volume. maybe not as encyclopedic as one might hope, but the only book on the subject I could find! my mother collected these dolls in Japan in the early 1970's but I was clueless about them, even after Googling, so was very pleased to find the book briefly on sale from mingiearts.

I was expecting much more information on these Japanese kokeshi than was offered in this book. It offered lots of white space. It did not cover the many different styles made in northern Japan, it did not cover the Masters, the National Treasures, it did not mention where and in what region or town the kokeshi were made. It did not picture the many different designs and shapes through the years, nor the classic art on the very expensive dolls. I have bought over 100 kokeshi of various designs and shapes, and found the artists making these in their homes, which made collecting them so worth while. I was disappointed that this book could have been so much more, but cheated the reader on what the kokeshi really means to Japan and what a joy it is to discover what is available.