Featured image for Mimushi Handcrafted Designer Figurines

Mimushi Handcrafted Designer Figurines

by Tiana Spellman on 02/15/2012 | 4 Minute Read

Editorial photograph

These wooden figurines, based on the fictional story of mimushi and his multiple personality disorder, are meticulously crafted by hand, one by one. Although they have similarities, they are all individually different, making each piece as unique as it gets.

Due to its meticulous process and dedication, only up to 80 a month are produced; the new limited series (only 5 made) named the “Samuraishi Pop” was recently launched. Quantities, as you can see, are very limited, and unlike other limited editions, this is not deliberate; it’s just the nature of it. Whoever gets their hands on one of these, will enjoy a true collectible that very few people in the world will be able to have. Oh, and an added bonus: the box is a fine work of art in itself!

The intricate handicraft process of creating the “Dauntless Gatekeepers” series implies several techniques: wood carving and wheat straw veneering. First the wood is brought in from deep Amazon forest plantations. In order to carve the wood it needs to be humid, and as the process moves along, the wood starts drying. A piece of wood is cut to the approximate size of the figurine, then some basic straight cuts are created using carving tools or other carving elements to give it its true form, and fine detail. By barely touching the object and using a drawing pencil, the motif is drawn on each wooden object. Once the figure is obtained, its outline is cut out in order to paste it onto the piece. Then, small cutouts are carried out to delineate the drawing, and a very thin film of lacquer is applied. Wheat straw is opened using a scalpel and then leveled completely with a river stone.

 

Afterwards, it is carefully pasted stalk by stalk over a tissue paper, until a plate is formed. Tincture may vary from a raw to a burnt look, creating different tonalities that highlight parts of the design, and heated at different levels to darken it. The decorative sheathing is obtained using an inlaying technique with the previously sanded and painted wheat straw by applying very thin layers over the wood, and paying meticulous attention to the steady hold of the veneer and the conservation of the figurines. The brightness and colors of this luxurious ornamentation produce exciting new effects on the decoration of traditional and contemporary settings.By using sustainable forest techniques, the wood used for our products is renewable organic material. This means that the processed wood obtained is already being replaced by natural processes at an equal or faster rate than it is being consumed, and it is harvested in a sustainable manner so as to affect earth and nature as least as possible. On top of that, the veneering process increases the amount of usable wood, as veneers are cut as thin as 1/40 of an inch! A tiny amount of wood is exhausted in the process, improving the yield of the wood and diminishing the exhaustion of the resource.These wonderful figurines come in a Canadian pine box, branded on 7-surfaces

Designed by blattke / mimushi Editorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photographEditorial photograph