Exquisite Set of Eleven Hand-carved and Stained Multicultural Figures raku I believe the head is

I believe the head is birch and the body teak

I'd love it filled with a a couple of tall flowering branches or a few huge Asiatic lilies

feels like it belongs in a museum vitrine

a brilliant secret hiding place

but would be best framed with a matte

Exquisite Set of Eleven Hand-carved and Stained Multicultural Figures raku I believe the head isI 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!