The exhibition was funded in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program.
The first of its kind in the United States, this exhibition presented six traditional categories of _ningyo -- gosho ningyô_ (palace dolls), _hina ningyô_ (Girls' Day dolls), _musha ningyô_ (Boys' Day dolls), _isho ningyô_ (dolls of fashion and popular culture), _karakuri ningyô_ (theater dolls, some of which are mechanical) and dolls relating to health. Carved from wood, the dolls are clothed in elegant, often elaborate, costumes with heads, hands and bodies that have the appearance of white porcelain, an effect achieved by application to the wooden base of _gofun,_ a white pigment made from crushed clam and oyster shells and glue.
The exhibition was accompanied by a new book of the same title from Tuttle Publishing written by Guest Curator Alan Scott Pate and with photography by Lynton Gardiner. Pate presented an illustrated lecture on the exhibition following the June 25 Members’ Reception.