Noh Mask Polychrome Theater Man Spirit God Gigaku Edo Japan 19th Century

Japanese Noh* theater mask in polychrome wooddepicting a man's face with frowning eyes, from Japan,19th century Edo period.

This mask is in good overall condition. The beard is made of horsehair.

Note: some accidents and missing polychromy and horsehair see photos.

We have other noh masks for sale on this site.

is one of the traditional styles of Japanese theater that stems from areligious and aristocratic conception of life. Noh combinesverse chronicles to danced pantomimes. Wearing sumptuous costumescostumes and specific masks (there are 138 different masks),actors perform mainly for shoguns and samurai.Masks are used for all shite roles with the exception of children and men. children and living adult men (as opposed to ghosts).ghosts). When playing without a mask, the shite must maintain a neutralexpression, exactly as if he were wearing a mask anyway.The design of noh masks combines real and symbolic elements,their purpose being to provide information on the character's type and mood. mood. When he puts on the mask, the actor symbolically leaves his ownpersonality and takes on that of the character he or she is about to embody.Contemplation of the mask is thus part of the actor's preparationfor the role. What's more, because of the lighting, the expression of the maskis designed to vary according to the angle of exposure.The actor must therefore constantly control the inclination of his head in order toto present his mask to the light in the orientation required bycharacter's mood. Demon masks, which can be open- or closed-mouthedmouth open or closed, are distinguished by their highly expressive featuresand the golden coloring of the eyes. These two elements express the rawand savagery of the supernatural beings they represent.they represent. Only the female demon masks feature hornshorns; male ones do not.

Reference: G10 205
All photos at:
www.antiques-delaval.com