Description
This vintage Nambu Chagu Chagu Uma goes back to probably the mid or early 20th C. Made of wood, cloth, ribbon, and bristle hairs, it's a very simplistic folk toy decoration. Comes with the original box, as sold by a store in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. H.3.75"(9.25cm) x L.2.5"(6.5cm), 13 grams. This piece has been in our family collection for some 50+ years, so definitely has some age and character.
The horse symbolizes Iwate Prefecture's "Chagu Chagu Umakko" a horse with bells and dressed in colorful trappings to march in local festivals as a prayer for healthy livestock, as well as bountiful harvests and family safety. Horse figures, and horses, have been a common folk toy, amulet, and offering for shrines for centuries. In 1931, an official parade of horses to Morioka Hachimangu Shrine was established after the 1930 visit by Prince Chichibu that included a procession of horses. The name "Chagu Chagu" is an onomatopoeia for the sound of the bells on the ornately dressed horses. The parade was designated an Intangible Cultural Property by the Japanese Government's Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1978.
The "Nambu" region refers to the are of southern Aomori and northern Iwate Prefectures that was ruled by the Nambu Clan during the Feudal Period. The term is still used to identify several traditional crafts, the local dialect, foods, etc.