This pair of identical miniature tables are called kakebanzen, and are part of a Hinamatsuri (Girls' Day or Doll Festival) set of figures. The tables are made of black lacquer with gold decorations and red lacquer tops. The legs are curved and joined at the bottom. There are nine individual pieces on top of each table: one raised dish, one large pot, two covered bowls, two bowls with red interiors, and one lid. All of the vessels have black lacquered exteriors with gold decorations. In a traditional Hinamatsuri arrangement, the kakebanzen are on the fourth tier among the daijin (court ministers).
Hinamatsuri, the Doll Festival or Girls' Day, is held annually on March 3 to celebrate the happiness and health of young girls. The holiday originated during the Edo period (1600-1868) to ward off evil spirits, and at some Hinamasturi festivals today, people release paper dolls into the rivers to carry away sickness and bad fortune. Setting up a display of special festival dolls in the house is fundamental to the festival, and the display is usually put up in mid-February but put away as soon as the festival ends because of old superstitions. Hinamatsuri dolls wear Heian period (794-1192) clothing, and are placed in specific locations on a one-, five-, or seven-tiered platform covered with red felt (depending on the number of dolls owned). On the top tier, the emperor and empress dolls are placed in front of a miniature gold folding screen. The second tier holds the sannin kanjo, three ladies-in-waiting dolls, with takatsuki (round tables) holding sweets in between them. The gonin bayashi (five musicians) stand and sit on the third tier, playing a small taiko drum, a large otsuzumi drum, a kotsuzumi hand drum, or a yokobue (flute); the fifth musician is an utaika (singer). On the fourth tier are the daijin (court ministers): a young Minister of the Right and the older Minister of the Left, with a hishidai diamond-shaped table and a kakebanzen (covered-bowl table). The fifth tier features guards and/or servants amid a sakura (cherry) tree and an orange tree. The final two tiers hold an array of items, including: clothing chests (nagamochi and tansu), hibachi braziers, tea ceremony utensils, and carriages/palanquins, among others.
