Master YOSHIAKI SATO Kokeshi, Togatta School, Signed, Japan c. 1960s

Description: Thank you for looking. Please visit my other listings of contemporary and antique Japanese art. Master Yoshiaki Sato 佐藤好秋 (1906 - 1991), Togatta School. Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Circa the 1970s. Signed. A stylish kokeshi - a perfect example of Sato-san's very individual and recognizable style. Height: 7.1" Weight: 177 g Yoshiaki Sato (1906-1991) Apprenticed with: Grand Master Matsunoshin Sato (father) Disciples: Koichi Sato / Kichisuke Wagatsuma / Ichisuke Wagatsuma / Masao Omiya / Mikio Konno / Kashiku Konno / Yoshikazu Komuro / Kazunari Sato Born on November 20, 1906, Yoshiaki Sato was one of the sons of Matsunoshin Sato, one of the founding Masters of the Togatta school of kokeshi making. In 1919, while attending elementary school, Yoshiaki began training in woodworking under his father. From 1923, he worked as a craftsman for a variety of workshops, first as a woodworker and then painting kokeshi dolls. In 1933, he returned to his home in Shinchi and started a woodworking business using a potter's wheel for turning wood (powered with a turbine water wheel). In 1935, Kichisuke Agatsuma, in 1937, Ichisuke Agatsuma, and in 1938, Masao Omiya became his apprentices. The workshop produced kokeshi dolls, miscellaneous utensils, and trays. During the war Yoshiaki worked for a munition manufacturing factory and returned to his home in Shinchi in 1946. In 1947, he installed a powered potter's wheel, and took on his son Koichi Sato, Mikio Konno, and Yoshikazu Komuro as his apprentices. From around 1965, he only did painting and coloring, leaving wood turning to his apprentices, except in special cases. He passed away on April 1, 1991, at the age of 86. Sato-san made a major contribution to the Togatta School of kokeshi and trained a significant number of disciples. His early works are very rare, as few have survived. The majority of his kokeshi are from the 1960s. His brushwork declined from the 1970s onwards, but the fact that he continued to create until his death at the age of 86 is to be greatly praised. Togatta SchoolTogatta school is considered one of the oldest among the Traditional schools. It originated from the Togatta Onsen in the Miyagi Prefecture and subsequently expanded to Aone Onsen and the towns of Sendai and Izumi. In the 1960s, Togatta craftsmen founded the Tougatta Kiji Union, a cooperative that was able to obtain access to reserved wood from the Japanese Ministry of Forestry. The Togatta kokeshi is popular among collectors for the rich variability of its styles and high grade of the wood the figurines are made of.Dento KokeshiDento ("traditinoal") kokeshi have been produced mostly in the Tohoku district in northeastern Honshu, Japan. Traditional kokeshi are characterized by their distinct style that remains little changed. There are 12 established schools of dento kokeshi, the oldest of which have been in existence for more than 150 years. K179

Price: 35 USD

Location: New York, New York

End Time: 2025-01-08T17:27:23.000Z

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