Gosho doll

This chubby infant doll with white glossy skin is called a ‘Gosho doll.’ It originated in Kyoto and had been favored by court nobles. The dolls were sophisticated in the court culture, and became one of the representative dolls of Japanese doll culture. Starting in the eighteenth century, the doll played a role as a court gift to feudal lords who had visited the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, or as a souvenir that court messengers brought to feudal lords’ domains. Therefore, many Gosho dolls remain in those families. The Gosho dolls belonging to the Tachibana family are characterized by their small size. More than half of them are 3 cm or less in height which is exceptionally small for a Gosho doll.