Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Esther Shimazu Signed Japanese Hawaiian American Female Sculpture

$5,600
£4,300.26
€4,933.08
CA$7,868.66
A$8,812.40
CHF 4,598.17
MX$107,639.67
NOK 58,502.05
SEK 55,145.19
DKK 36,814.95

About the Item

Esther Shimazu's bald female sculpture. She uses hand-built techniques to construct clay figures using colored slips, oxides when firing, then hand sands them and rubs in pigments to create a sense of volume and lifelike color. Shimazu’s art is influenced by her interest in nature, history, and family. In creating her distinctively charming stoneware pieces, she draws heavily from her experience as an Asian-American living in Hawaii. She is best known for her stoneware sculptures of bald, nude, chunky Asian women constructed with hand-building techniques. Her figures are created without complex details in order to accentuate their ceramic origins. Despite the heft of Shimazu’s creations, their joy and technical perfection are like the miniature Japanese netsuke figurines in their delicacy, precision and ability to delight as they tell their tale. Along with the glazing of the tiny fingernails, the fine detail of the teeth in her figures’ characteristic smiles is a perfect touch.
  • Creator:
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 13.5 in (34.29 cm)Width: 29 in (73.66 cm)Depth: 9.75 in (24.77 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1997
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Houston, TX
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: Moxie Interiors SKU: BKUP-24321stDibs: LU1076639994932

More From This Seller

View All
Esther Shimazu Signed Japanese Hawaiian American Male Sculpture
By Esther Shimazu
Located in Houston, TX
Esther Shimazu's bald and chunky male sculpture. She uses hand-built techniques to construct clay figures using colored slips, oxides when firing, then hand sands them and rubs in pi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Stoneware

20th Century Carved Guan Yin
Located in Houston, TX
A tall 20th century polychrome carved Asian standing Guan Yin. She is depicted on a lotus pedestal and robed with ribbons and beading, surrounded by a parasol styled moon.
Category

20th Century Asian Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Femme Hermes Bronze Sculpture
Located in Houston, TX
A contemporary post modern patinated bronze "Femme Hermes" sculpture, unsigned.
Category

20th Century North American Post-Modern Busts

Materials

Bronze

Italian White Statuary Marble Maiden Sculpture
Located in Houston, TX
1930s Italian hand-carved statuary marble sculpture of a maiden.
Category

Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble

French Midcentury Granite Bust on Wood Base, Signed
Located in Houston, TX
French Midcentury hand-sculpted granite bust on wood base, circa 1965. Signed by the artist G. Gregoire.
Category

Mid-20th Century French Modern Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Granite

20th Century Blanc de Chine Guanyin
Located in Houston, TX
An early 20th century signed Chinese Blanc de Chine Guanyin (Quan Yin) styled in a ruched robe, Buddha crown, holding a cloud septor and seated ...
Category

Early 20th Century Chinese Ceramics

Materials

Porcelain

You May Also Like

"Get a Load" by Esther Shimazu
By Esther Shimazu
Located in Chicago, IL
Bald and chunky, Esther Shimazu’s quirky clay figures are unabashedly naked and delightfully indulgent. Drawing up on her Japanese ancestry and experience...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Porcelain

1990s Hand Painted and Signed Ceramic Head of a Japanese Character
Located in Marbella, ES
1990s hand painted and signed ceramic head of a Japanese character.
Category

Late 20th Century Spanish Busts

Materials

Ceramic

Mid-Century Era Italian Hand-Painted Young Female Nude Ceramic Sculpture
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
This ceramic female nude sculpture may be artist signed, but illegible, but clearly identified as originating from Italy and dating to approximately 1950 and done in the period Mid-C...
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic

Japanese Old Female Figure Sculpture 1960s-1980s / Human Statue Wabisabi
Located in Chōsei District Nagara, JP
This is an old wood carving made in Japan. It is a female figure by an unknown artist, and is estimated to have been made in the late Showa period (1960s-1980s). The statue is carved...
Category

Late 20th Century Japanese Showa Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Cedar

Ceramic Figurative Sculpture by Akio Takamori Published
By Akio Takamori
Located in Atlanta, GA
A large figurative ceramic sculpture entitled by Akio Takamori (1950 - 2017) created in 2004. Stoneware with hand-painted surface, the sculpture depicts a half-naked standing boy figure with his hands in praying position. His berobed lower body, interestingly, morphed into a highly sculptural form. The scarlet color drapery with black stripes swells and coils into shapes that resembles breasts, echoing the statue's young age. The figure was apparently based on Prince Shotoku (574-622AD), a semi-legendary regent of the Asuka period...
Category

Early 2000s American Modern Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic

Yael Erlichman Contemporary Bronze Sculpture Depicting a Robust Woman, 2002
Located in North Miami, FL
Contemporary bronze sculpture depicting a robust woman whose expressions are very vivid and expressive by artist Yael Erlichman. It is signed by the art...
Category

Early 2000s Israeli Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Bronze