Amazing Japanese Mingei Folded Paper Snake with Glass Bead Eyes summer with undulating sides giving it

with undulating sides giving it a great dynamism

Thus reads the caption on the front of this late 19th/early 20th century hand-drawn British postcard

When he posted these I snatched them up immediately--I just think they are extraordinarily beautiful

made all the better by the red center stripes that have endured here and there

Amazing Japanese Mingei Folded Paper Snake with Glass Bead Eyes summer with undulating sides giving itWhat a lot of careful folding went into the creation of this very wonderful paper snake, Japanese (Mingei essentially means 'folk art' in Japanese) and dating to the early 20th century I believe. I've only found one other of these out there, near identical in manner though somewhat larger than this one, sold via 1st Dibs; that one was housed in its original wooden crate, with hand painted paper label, which helped in the dating of this one. It appears