VCM

"Copper doll" (jap.: dô ningyô)
Kupferpuppe (jap.: dô ningyô): 29.77-1

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Why this is a
Masterpiece

This very rare model of a human body has a skin crafted as a net-like structure, to allow the beholder to look inside the body. The organs are shown in a European naturalistic manner, not as energy-centers of organ-circles in the Asiatic manner. But, on the skin, acupuncture points are indicated in three colours. The net-like skin as well as the inner organs can be removed. The model stems from a time before the enforced opening of Japan to western influence. It is an extremely fine example of the trends for “western learning” (rangaku) of the early Edo-time. It bears witness to Japan's early interest in foreign science, an interest that was upheld without giving up the country's own, Asian-based scientific tradition.

History of the Object: According to an inscription under the left foot, this copper model was made in 1669 after an idea of Iwamura (?) Gensai. It seems to have belonged to the personal physician of the daimyou of Kii-Wakayama. The model was produced in a series of which only two pieces remain.

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Type: Other
Materials: Copper, lacquer, wood, others
Measurements: Height 135 cm
Creator name: unknown
Creator date: 17th Century
Where it was made: Japan; Wakayama (?)
Geography: Japan
Time period: AD 17th century ~ AD 17th century
Creation date: 17th Century; 1669
Function: Anatomic model combining Asian and Western medical knowledge (originally in a wooden storage box).
Acquisition: The model was a gift by the widow of one medical counsel (Medizinalrat) Krefting, from (Bad) Arolsen. In the city archives of Arolsen, no mention of Krefting can be found. We suspect that he once worked in Japan as a medical doctor and thereby came to possess this model.
Copyright: Saal/Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Mr. Toshio Asada, Hamburg Mz. Hiromi Inagaki, Medical Museum Gifu, Dr. Mikio Suzuki, Kobe University Mr. Yasuoka and Kai un nandemo kantei dan, Tôkyô Television, for providing information on our "copper doll".
Owner: Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg
Museum: Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg
Credit line: Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg, Inv.Nr. 29.77:1