Okimono

Okimono "carved figurine" is a work of Japanese arts and crafts, a figurine intended for interior decoration. Historically, the term okimono was used to refer to small sculptures or decorative objects housed in a tokonoma of a traditional Japanese dwelling.

Okimono, as a type of miniature plastic designed to decorate housing, became widespread around the 16th century, when a special niche (tokonoma) was adopted in the architecture of a dwelling, in which a beautiful scroll, ikebana or small statues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas were placed. Over time, the thematic repertoire of miniature sculpture expanded, and already in the engravings of the Edo period (1603-1868), figurines of saints, monks, animals of the sixties cycle, and seven deities of happiness can be seen as okimonos.

After the Meiji Revolution (1868-1869), Japan, embarking on the path of modernization, takes part in world exhibitions. So in Vienna, among the objects representing the cultural traditions and crafts of the country, there were okimonos carved from ivory. Given the scale of the showroom, Japanese carvers increased the size of the figurines. This is how the type of okimono that has become a collectible in the West was born.

The Meiji reforms, which established European dress as official wear, devalued the netsuke. Carvers turned to okimono, for which, after a series of World Exhibitions, the demand increased in the art markets of Europe and the United States. The interest of Europeans in miniature plasticity determined new requirements for bone sculptures, which were now intended to decorate European interiors. The size of the okimono became much larger (from 20 to 50 cm), their surface was carefully processed, and most importantly, the European audience had to be addressed in a plastic language that he could understand. This is how the phenomenon of Japanese realism arose, in line with which okimono masters worked. Japanese plots were embodied in authentic statuettes, striking in the thoroughness of the modeling of the form.

During the 20th century, due to world wars, economic crises and the ban on the extraction of ivory, the number of master carvers declined sharply. The high cost of work (it took from several months to several years to make one figure) made it impossible to sell it on the domestic market. The reorientation solely towards export led to a decline in the artistic level of the okimono.

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