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1884.114.49

Noh mask of the face of a woman in death.

On display

1884.114.49

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Collection type
Object
Description
Noh mask of the face of a woman in death.
Geographical reference
Japan
Asia > Eastern Asia > Japan
Cultural groups
Japanese
Date / Period
Date made: Possibly before 1880 Archaeological period: Middle Edo Period, uncertain
Date collected
?Prior to 1880
Acquisition information
Donated: 1884
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Process Painted, Process Carved, Process Repaired (local)
Dimensions
Length x Width: max 210 x 138 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1884.114.49 PR no.: 343/ 11351
Research and responses

Related Documents File - Typed transcription from the Bulletin of the Noh Research Institute No. 22, 1997, Hosei University Noh Research Institute, published 25 May 1998. By Nishino Haruo. Translated by Rachel Payne, Pembroke College, Oxford, October 1998: The text relating to this mask is as follows: '343. Yase Onno. [Footnote 50: Yase Onna - literally 'thin woman'. The face of a woman in death]. (Signature inscription in gold 'Hini no ?Saishiki ?(pronunciation?) Utushi'. Carved by Morimoto Shigeyoshi [Footnote 51: 'Himi no ?Saishiki ?Utsushi" = A copy of a mask carved by Himi ??] Not as good a mask as No. 342. . [JN 23/10/2001]

Typed report on the Noh masks [1884.114.7 - 58 and 116 and 117] drawn up by Jeremy Coote. In this listing the notes are listed under the heading A, B and C refer as follows:

A = as listed on a 19th century description possibly printed in Yokohama, B = on the list compiled by T.K. Penniman from information from Arthur Waley's 'The No Masks of Japan' Henry Joly's "Legend in Japanese Art' and V.F. Weber's 'Ko-ji Ho-ten'. C = from information provided 17 June 1993 by Professor Fukushima Kazuo, Director of Research Archives for Japanese Music, Ueno Gakuen College Tokyo following a visit to the PRM in 1984. 1884.114.49 Identified as: A 'The ghost of a woman' B 'Yace onna, thin woman's face'. Inscription.

One of a set of 52 Noh or No masks for which the Museum also holds 51 silk covers (1884.114.59 - 109). An old label, surviving only as a photograph (NEG A9.F27.32; see RDF), listing all the masks in this collection, reads as follows:

'Old Japanese Masks used in the No-dances and other Theatrical performances, both religious and secular.

'The following is a description of the Masks, printed in YOKOHAMA:-

'These Masks were recently on view at the Exhibition at KIYOTO, the former capital of Japan, to which they were loaned by the owner, who is proprietor of a theatre in TOKIO. There are said to be only two superior collections in Japan, both of which are in the possession of ex-DAIMIOS. These Masks have been used in the No-dances and other Theatrical performances, both religious & secular, for many years. They were made by Buddhist Priests during their leisure hours, & the ages of the Masks, as given below, shew their antiquity.'

'[The List follows; see RDF for this and other identifications.]

'Notwithstanding the high taste for Art displayed in Japanese works the entire absence of nobility and elevation of character in all representations of the human form cannot fail to strike the observer.'

The masks were also identified by T. K. Penniman, from information gleaned from Arthur Waley's 'The No Masks of Japan', Henri Joly's 'Legend in Japanese Art' and V. F. Weber's 'Ko-ji Ho-ten'. See RDF for this and other identifications. [JC]

Please note, the original list of these masks has been found and is in Solander Box 2. [MdeA 2/2/2001]

Additional information from Rachel Payne with specific relevance to the particular mask in this catalogue entry: 'According to the book 'Noh Kyogen Men Mokuroku' (The Noh Kyogen Mask Catalogue ?Published by Taga Daisha,1933), Morimoto Shigeyoshi, who carved masks numbers 301, 306 307, 309, 338 (and most likely 343) is also referred as 'Ise Taifo...' and comes from the town of Kanazawa, and worked as the 'mask carver' for the Maeda family of Etchu [Footnote the Maeda family - possibly the daimyo samurai warlord of the Etchu region). he was probably alive in the late Edo Era (i.e. 1800 - 1860. In the light of these facts, I conclude that the Pitt Rivers Museum collection is chiefly made up of masks passsed down through the generations of the Maeda family of Etchu. [JN 31/10/2001]

Search terms: Mask, Theatre and Drama