 | Antique
Japanese Mask Netsuke
Tenjin
Angry
Spirit
Signature: Ryogyoku 19th Century
H
1.5 in.(4cm), W 1.25 in.(3cm), D 1 in.(2.5cm)
Condition: hairlines, o.a. very good A
fine quality mask netsuke in well marked cream with age patina, representing a
fierce mask of Tenjin; engraving with sumi and red pigment with calligraphic signature
on the back. Mask netsuke were freely carved depicting states of emotion, and
more closely copied when representing Noh or Kabuki characters. Here is the mask
of Tenjin, the unfairly exiled ninth century scholar and court official Sugawara
Michizane. A victim of political intrigue, Michizane continued to protest his
innocence through poetry until his death, after which his angry spirit was believed
to have wreaked havoc in Kyoto, and so he was posthumously pardoned, given a promotion
in court rank, and ultimately deified. Ryogyoku also use the name Sansui. The
artist’s faithfulness to realism is seen in his having carved the entire mask
including the back, and hollowed out the inside just as it would be done to accommodate
an actor wearing it.
Private Collection
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