Rare Antique Japanese Dolls Set of 8 Ningyo - c.1900 Meiji

Eight antique Japanese costume dolls (ningyo), about 6 inches tall. A genuine late-Meiji group, not a modern reproduction. Each is handmade by traditional method: a gofun head of ground oyster shell burnished in thin coats, real human hair set strand by strand, silk kimono sewn as true miniatures. No two faces are alike. Among them is a zuishin, the elderly court minister who guards the imperial pair in a Hinamatsuri display, and two performers with the chalk-white face of a Noh mask. Characters that rarely turn up outside a complete set. Bought in person near Narita, Japan, from a gentleman who has collected and dealt in these dolls for fifty years. He dated them at approximately 120 years old, late Meiji, around 1900. I have the receipt and it goes with them. Sold as one lot, as-is. All original parts present and included. Some arms and hands sit loose at the joint, normal at this age. Fading and fraying to the silk throughout. Never cleaned or restored. Fully photographed. Please look closely and ask anything. First come first served, no holds without full payment. Pickup Royal Oak NW.