Oversized Daruma, Paper Machie, Japanese, Mid-century

Daruma, transposed from the Zen temple to the everyday world. A folk ritual that is practiced to this day to invoke a wish or a prayer, is to have an image of Daruma with one eye painted and make a wish and when that is granted you paint the other eye.  Daruma-san, aside from being a Deity, an icon, novelty or object d'art, is also popular as a symbol of good luck.

This particular Daruma was used as a prop to advertise a company called Takano Car Parts Co. Ltd.

Paper mache, Japan, mid-century.