ema girl (horse)

Artist's notes on style, materials and inspiration:

This large turned Tulipwood girl was made to celebrate the Year of the Horse in 2026, which runs from February 17th 2026 to February 5th 2027, and features my interpretation of a stylised horse found on an ema votive wooden plaque from 1682 (see last photo for the original version).

In the Shinto religion horses were considered to be divine mounts - to carry the Kami (deities) directly and also their messages. This meant that they were originally given to shrines as live offerings - sometimes a specific colour of horse being required depending on the nature of the prayer. As this was a costly practice, the tradition evolved over time into the giving of horse figurines, sculptures and paintings as votive offerings. The word 'ema' is written with the kanji for picture and horse: 絵馬 and they were first made on many different sizes of wooden panel, with pictures of other things as well as horses; nowadays the small wooden plaques bought at shrines can have almost anything on them, but the title ema remains. 

A note about 'Wood Girls'

My wood girls are turned by a production turner to my designs and then added to and hand painted in the U.K. by me, a British artist, exploring patterns and scenes encountered by me on my travels and in daily life. My pieces are painted in a naïve and simple style, with visible brush strokes and differing paint consistencies. It is important to note that these dolls are made from real wood which will have naturally occurring markings and grain, and sometimes there will be small amount of bleeding along the grain, or knots, which is to be expected when using untreated wood - please make sure you consult the pictures carefully before purchasing.

Hand painted and finished in a matt acrylic protective top coat.
Painted underneath with roaring bear head, and comes on a little veneered stand that also has a bear head painting on the underside.
Approximately 21cm high, excluding stand.

Please note: THIS IS NOT A TOY and should be kept out of the reach of children. Wood girls should be kept away from water which can damage the wood and painted surface, and also away from direct heat/ sunlight which also can affect the surface colour and the timber itself.