Torso

This greyish-brown torso is probably from a complete female figurine. It is solid, with downward pointing breasts, and has a flat back with crescentic designs continuing round the waist to the sides of the stomach. The most distinctive features are the strap-like bands on the front of the figure, marked with punched circular holes. The thick vertical band between the breasts is semi-circular in section. A similar example to this, from Ibaraki Prefecture, Kanto region, Honshu, is illustrated in Tsuboi and Kudo (1980: pl. 42).

Entry taken from Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection 3 volume catalogue, edited by Steven Hooper (Yale University Press, 1997).