  A Japanese, kabuki character doll. This character, with the long, white hair, represents a father lion, from Ren-jishi. Ren-jishi is a traditional kabuki dance. It describes a lion’s harsh way of raising a cub, in which a parent pushes the cubs into the bottom of a ravine and only those which manage to climb back up are raised. The white hair is for the parent lion and the red hair is for the cub. The lion here is not the actual real life lion we know of, but is a shishi, which is a mythological lion-like animal, said to be the king of beasts and always associated with the Buddhist deity Monju, so the story in this dance is very spiritual.
	 
	
  On a wooden base
	 
	
  Gofun face and hands and glass eyes, with hand painted features and glass eyes. Gofun is made from powdered oyster shells and has a finish very like porcelain. Nowadays, plastics are used instead
	 
	
  Hand painted
	 
	
  Made in Japan
	
	Please be aware that different monitors display colour slightly differently. Therefore the colour in the photos and description is a guide only
	
	Condition:
	Excellent
	
	Size:
	Shown by a, unused, standard pencil, as size guide