This is a beautiful set of eight totally different vintage Japanese kokeshi dolls. Kokeshi dolls were originally created by wood workers as toys, they were made from pieces of wood no longer useful for pieces of furniture. After supplying all the children in the villages they noticed visitors' interest in the dolls as souvenirs. Most of these villages were 'Onsen' (hot water spring) villages in the Tohoku region, the kokeshi craft spread to more regions in the same part of Japan and each village / region created their own distinct style. Kokeshi are hand turned on a lathe to create the distinct doll shape and it is often painted on the lathe to crete the straight lines. The head of the doll is usually made from a separate piece of wood and fitted before painting the last details. The smaller two dolls of this set are of the Ejiko stype, they symbolise a baby in a basket that was traditionally used to keep the rice warm, but in the Tsuruoka area, farmers would keep their babies in the baskets during the busy season. This allowed them to watch the little ones while they worked the fields. Small toys would be placed in the basket along with the baby, comforting the baby and easing mother’s mind throughout the day. These dolls are estimated to have been created in the late 1970s or early 1980s The largest doll in this set is 30 cm tall, the others are between 25 and 10 cm tall. They are in good shape, especially if you take their age into account.