Description AN AMUSING WOOD KOBE TOY, MEIJIJapan, Meiji period (1868-1912)"Kobe Doll" is a type of Karakuri doll that was born in Kobe in the middle of the Meiji era, the humorous movements and gimmicks made it popular not only with Kobe children but also with foreign tourists visiting Kobe. This toy is modelled as an articulated figure of a man playing an instrument, when the handle on the side is turned the left hand raises and lowers; the head and right-hand mechanism are currently not functioning.Condition: With surface wear, mechanisms do not work properly. Provenance: Family collection of either Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) or his son-in-law Louis (Loek) Borensztajn (1935-2021), Netherlands. Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) was an architect, art collector, dealer, and founder of the first Museum of Japanese Art in the Middle East. He became one of the world's leading collectors of Japanese art, starting at the age of 18, and continued to collect and work as an art dealer in Berlin in the 1920s. In the 1930s Felix Tikotin fled from the Nazis and hid his collection in the Netherlands. After the war, he decided that his collection should be taken to Israel, where in 1959 and with the help of Abba Hushi, who was the mayor of Haifa, The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art was established. The Museum's collection comprises more than 8,000 items of art and crafts.Weight: 63 gDimensions: Height 11 cm