Description:
Japanese netsuke. Standing short figure in robe wearing a white ivory inlay mask with another face beneath it. Two holes on the back for funcational use.

Label Text:
The Kyogen is a comic dance commonly performed as an intermission between two classical Noh plays. The ivory inlay on this netsuke represents a Hyotoku mask with a facial expression that suggests drunkenness. Peering out from underneath the kimono is a smiling face, indicating that in Kyogen facial expressions do not have to be masked, but can be achieved naturally or with the aid of makeup.

Tags:
dance; theater

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+1986.30.74

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