Exquisite Set of Eleven Hand-carved and Stained Multicultural Figures raku a brilliant secret hiding place

a brilliant secret hiding place

I believe the head is birch and the body teak

with head stretched gracefully forward

All are included in photos

and on both sides the puppet is attached to what I believe are bamboo sticks

Exquisite Set of Eleven Hand-carved and Stained Multicultural Figures raku a brilliant secret hiding placeI think these hand carved and stained wooden figures are exquisitely elegant, super tender and just completely lovely. The faces! The postures! The palette! I have not been able to find anything quite like them online, but have a slight hunch they may be Korean and would guess they date from the 1940s or early 50s. With their varied heights running in pairs, it seems possible that they were chess piecesif so, what an amazing set they would have made!