A painted wood Nô mask of Kagekiyo. 18th century
Mask of the ancient blind general Kageyiko with implanted hair along the upper lip and at the chin, deep wrinkles to the forehead and cheeks, the open mouth revealing an upper and lower row of blackened teeth, the deep eye sockets and narrow slits indicating the general’s blindness. The thinly lacquered reverse shows a lively wood grain and a large paper label with a red seal. Wooden box (not original), the lid with a paper label reading Nô men Kagekiyo; the reverse with an inscription reading Kan’ei go nezumi toshi natsu ni oite Kyoto dekiru… Cushion, bag, inscribed Kagekiyo; raw silk furoshiki.
Height 20.4 cm
“Four distinctive patterns of Kagekiyo masks were produced, and this example corresponds best to the Hôshô pattern, which emphasizes the pathos of the character. Nakanishi Tôru attributed the mask to Deme Yûsui (1713—1766). Without a signature of any kind, he must have based this attribution on the carving pattern of the back of the mask. The attribution is plausible but not certain. In other words, the chisel patterns and coloration of the back are broadly compatible with Yûsui style, although they do not provide proof his work, in my opinion. The condition of the mask, assuming some restoration of the paint, is generally consistent with Yûsui's era. The paper label on the reverse was added by Mr. Nakanishi.“
(Stephen Marvin, Email dated 11.10.2022)
Provenance
Nakanishi Tôru 中西通, ca. 1996
Private collection, Bonn
Literature
Nakanishi Tôru, Noh no Omote, Tamagawa Shuppan-bu 1998, p. 52