Description
Carved wooden mask from the Noh theatre signed Seiun 静雲. Showa era. Represent Higakionna 檜垣女, old women. When the beautiful dancer Higaki was close to a hundred, she was asked to draw water for a nobleman and composed a poem on her deed. After death her spirit repeatedly had to draw water using a hot iron bucket and was consequently scalded by the contents.
Noh masks have long been an integral part of Japan’s religious rituals, festivals and theatre. They represent historical figures and spirits referred to as kami, which have their origins in Japan’s indigenous beliefs. Traditionally, the mask symbolised ‘possession’, transforming the wearer into the kami or its human incarnation.
1:1 scale (20 x 15 cm aprox.)
