Doro Ningyo

Doro ningyo — literally 'clay dolls' or 'mud dolls' — refers to a folk craft tradition of hand-formed and painted earthenware figurines produced in various Japanese regions. This print by Hasui is an unusual departure from his predominant landscape subjects, suggesting either a still-life study of clay dolls as objects or a scene depicting their making or display at a festival or market. The bold, frontal forms of traditional painted clay figures would offer Hasui and the printer an opportunity to work with flat areas of saturated pigment alongside the texture-rendering techniques typically used for stone, water, and foliage. If depicting artisan figurines from a specific regional tradition, the print likely carries ethnographic as well as aesthetic interest, documenting a craft practice within the broader shin-hanga project of recording Japanese folk and traditional culture.