tour 2 of 11
Changing face: masks from the British Museum
Nō mask of a young woman
Nō theatre masks are the opportunity for very
subtle expression in Japanese sculpture. The wooden masks are
carved and then painted - in this particular case, the mask is
whitened with crushed eggshell in an adhesive fluid. Finally, the
hair and features are painted.
Present-day Japanese Nō
performances adhere to the traditions established in the fourteenth
and early fiftneenth centuries by the masters Kan'ami
(1333-84) and his son Zeami (1363?-1443?). A number of standard
masks are used in different dramas. A skilfully carved mask will
appear to have subtle changes of expression depending on the way in
which the wearer turns his head and the angle at which it is held.
This is one of several variations of a young-woman mask based on an
original design by Zeami, known as Zō-onna. The false eyebrows
painted high on the forehead and the blackened teeth were
fashionable cosmetic styles for over a thousand years until the
late nineteenth century.