Collecting
Build an Object Record Before You Ask Who Made It
A repeatable documentation sequence for collectors, students and museums working from an unidentified kokeshi.
Create a neutral image set
Photograph the front, both sides, back, crown and base in even light. Add one frame with a scale and preserve the original files before cropping or colour correction.
Write observations before labels
Record height, maximum width, construction seams, visible wood, paint colours, surface finish, damage and inscriptions. Keep observed features separate from later guesses about region, maker or age.
Preserve the acquisition trail
Save receipts, seller text, packaging labels and previous collection notes. Provenance may be incomplete, but discarding it guarantees that the next researcher has less evidence than you did.
Record uncertainty explicitly
Use readings such as ‘possibly’, ‘unread’ and ‘attribution supplied by seller’ instead of converting uncertainty into fact. A careful incomplete record can be improved; a false certainty is harder to unwind.