Figure

The carvings were presented to Professor D. Sanders in 1984 by the Utari Association, an umbrella organization of Ainu groups, after he had spent time in Hokkaido doing research on legal and political issues relating to the Ainu.

Two wooden figures (parts a and b) on a wooden base (part c). The figures are made of cylindrical pieces of wood with roughly carved faces. Braided wood strips are used as clothing for the figures secured around the waist by strips of bark. Part a has wood shavings, still attached to the figure that form hair bundled together with a band of bark at the back. On part b, still attached wood shavings form a beard for the figure. Part b also has a headdress made of braided wood strips that is wrapped with bark at the front of the figure's head and string at the back. Both figures have a stamp on the bottom with Japanese characters, numbers, and a smaller circle contained within a larger one. The base is rectangular and has bark along its front side. There is Japanese writing on the bottom.