A RARE NOH MASK OF YASE-ONNA

A RARE NOH MASK OF YASE-ONNA
Japan, 19
th
century
Finely carved and decorated in creamy white and polychrome pigments over wood to depict a gaunt, emaciated woman with heavy-lidded eyes and slender red lips, the eyes and mouth pierced, the back with the signature within a recessed reserve reading Kurozuru 黒鶴.
HEIGHT 20 cm
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, a small age crack to the chin, minor flaking to lacquer around the edges.
Provenance:
From a French private collection.
Kurozuru
黒鶴 literally means 'Black Crane'. This name is likely based on Shakuzuru ('Red Crane'), a master Noh mask carver from the Nanbokuchu period (14
th
century).
Japanese Noh theater
is magnificent and rarefied - a living Buddhist performance art more than 700 years old with roots and formal elements much older. In the 14th century, the performer-playwright and head of a performing clan family Kan'ami Kiyotsugu (1333-84) wrote the play Motomezuka (“The Sought-for Grave”), which tells the plight of a maiden who committed suicide after two young men killed each other when fighting over her. Kan'ami's son, Zeami Motokiyo (c. 1363-c. 1443), further refined both the artistic and spiritual qualities of the play. Yase-onna represents the suffering spirit of a woman who dies from a problematic love relationship and is associated with the character Unai in Act Two of Motomezuka.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related Noh mask of Yase-onna, dated circa 19
th
century, illustrated in Nakanishi, Toru (1960) Noh Masks.
Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related Noh mask of Ko-omote with similar features, also dated 19
th
century, at Lempertz, Asian Art, 5 June 2015, Cologne, lot 800 (
sold for 23,560 EUR
).