Trade mark

[kissakai]

I love this china figure I think the face features and the back of the head so so well done so I wondered about the maker

Also I put a bamboo stick in his hand as whatever was there is missing

Do you think he had a stick or something else

 

 

 

 

[Michaelr]

I think that it is a great figure. I also love the stick and it looks like they have been together their whole life.  Thank you for sharing     
            MikeR

[Babu]

Is that oil for lantern?

[kissakai]

Was is not a lamp bearer?

Some going around at night could be accompanied by a lamp bearer so I wondered if originally he may have held an umbrella

The bamboo stick was only just cut from my plank and will turn completely black in a few months

 

[kyushukairu]

I can't help with the trade mark, but the lantern that the figure is carrying states 'beware of fire'  (火の用心).
Even today, in rural Japan, in order to make people aware of fire, someone will walk through the town carrying hyoshigi (a set of bamboo blocks which are also used in kabuki), and I suspect this what your figure would have been holding. Personally, though I would gave him a lit torch...

[Brian]

[kissakai]

I didn't think about that - thanks

I tried an image search to fine more examples but can't find the best terminology

 

[Ted Tenold]

These are called Hakata Ningyo (博多人形).  They were extensively made in many many different themes of people performing daily tasks, folk arts, trades, arts, etc and popular souvenirs in post war Japan..   I have a couple of them also.  

[SteveM]

Maybe also try "Hakata Urasaki" dolls

[Brian]

Quote

That group is your local shōbōdan (volunteer fire corps). They were out on yomawari (night rounds) to remind residents to be careful of fire. Similar groups operate in virtually every Japanese city and town, although the frequency of patrols and the number of participants has dropped in recent years.

 

Most fire-corps patrols carry the sticks you saw, which are called hyōshigi. The drill generally goes like this: Clap the sticks twice (the sound of which is expressed as “kachin, kachin“) and follow it with a call of “Hi no yōjin!” (“Watch out for fire!”) Some groups throw in other fire-prevention slogans, such as “Māchi ippon, hi no moto!” (“A single match can start a fire!”).

These are the same sticks used in sumo tournaments to call wrestlers to the ring, and in kabuki to signal key moments such as the start of the play or an actor’s entrance. You only need hear these sticks once to understand why they are so widely used: They produce a high, loud and very arresting sound.

...The history of volunteer fire corps is generally traced back to 1648, when an order was issued in Edo (now Tokyo) instructing residents to take turns patrolling at night to make sure everyone was being careful with fire. This wasn’t the first time Japanese people had cooperated on the issue of fire, of course; communities were putting out fires together long before that. But since its designation as the de facto capitol of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603, Edo had grown ever larger and more densely populated. With so many people living closely together in highly combustible wooden dwellings, fire had become a much greater danger. The Meiriki fire in 1657, for example, burned in Edo for two days and killed an estimated 100,000 people....

 

[ROKUJURO]

Grev,

looks really nice! On the photo I don't see the stick as being bamboo, but whatever it is, it would fit if you did not put it across his feet! That would end in an accident.....😨

[kissakai]

Jean

That was my thought about his feet!

The bamboo is from my garden and will go black in a few months

It is like this so it can fall out so finds it's own position but I could steam it into a better shape/position

 

[kissakai]

Hi Jean

Is this better?

 

[ROKUJURO]

Very good, Grev! Accident prevented! 😄