A Kyogen mask

17TH CENTURY

Details
A Kyogen mask
17th Century
Of a man with a rueful expression and a double-lobed chin, coloured in flesh-coloured paint over gofun, with the lips in red, the eyes white and the eyebrows drawn in sumi, (minor repairs)
21cm. high

Lot Essay

The rather comical expression and the informality of the carving look more in keeping with a kyogen performance than a Noh play, but this appears to be a rare mask, and the character it portrays has not yet been identified. However, it is possibly one of a variety of Kobuaku Kyogen mask developed from the Beshimi mask.

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