Page 403 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

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No MASK: WAKA ONNA No MASK: Zo ONNA name of Zoami (c. 1400), a master dengaku per-
contemporary
former and respected
great
of the
Muromachi period (1333—1573) No actor-playwright Zeami, but the nature of
Japanese Muromachi period (1333-1573) the connection between Zoami and the zo onna
polychromed wood Japanese wood type is unclear. j.u.
poll/chromed
3
21.3 xi3.6 (SVzx 5 / 8) 21 x 13 (8V4 x 5 /sj
2
Suwasuzuki Shrine, Fukui Prefecture
Mitsui Bunko, Tokyo
Variously identified as a young woman, a middle- Like the waka onna mask (see cat. 244), the zo
aged woman, or a madwoman, this mask reveals onna represents a woman, but one of "a certain 246
the youthful contours and vitality of typical age." The points of resemblance and contrast
young woman masks. Older woman (shakumi) between the two are instructive. Here the corners No MASK: TENJIN
masks are often lean and wan, with bone structure of the mouth are horizontal, not upturned as in
prominent and youthful plumpness nowhere young woman masks; the eyes are placed two- Muromachi period (1333-1573)
apparent. The hair was parted in the middle, prob- thirds the distance from the bottom to the top of Japanese
ably with three strands framing the face. Catlike the mask, whereas in the masks of younger poll/chromed wood
eyes, partly closed, seem at once dreamy and women they tend to be slightly lower and might 23 x 15 (9 x 6)
intense. In the waka onna masks, the lips are be described as downcast; the curve of the carved Mitsui Bunko, Tokyo
parted, and their expression is firm. Overall, the eyes is gentler than in the masks of young
image suggests a confident youth and beauty. The women. But in place of the shakumi mask's sug- Buddhist iconography offers a variety of guardian
loss of pigment on this particular mask further gestion of melancholy, even distraction, the coun- figures, stern and frightening in appearance, who
contributes to an impression of ambivalence. tenance of this zo onna is reserved, dignified, might easily be misconstrued by the uninitiated
On the inside of the mask is an inscription elegant, and suffused with a calm, passionless, as demonic. This mask, too, is one of a class of
reading Inari Miya, an alternate name for the eerie beauty, ideally suited to the goddess roles fierce-featured supernatural beings sometimes
Suwasuzuki Shrine. for which it is most often worn. misleadingly referred to as demons (oni). Con-
It is not, however, exclusive to divinities. The temporaneous documentation notes that the
zo onna character is prominent, for example, master carver Shakuzuru of Omi Province
in the No play Teika, an elaborately fictionalized (present-day Shiga Pref.), who specialized in
romance between the renowned courtier-poet demon masks, was also commissioned to create
Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241) and Princess Shokushi tenjin visages. The rendering of both benevolent
(d. 1201), whose superb and passionate poems and harmful spirits required similar skills.
of love lent themselves to autobiographical The emergence of the tenjin (heavenly being)
interpretation. role or character within the No drama repertoire
The term zo onna is said to derive from the has been associated with the innovations of
402 CIRCA 1492