Noh Mask Kozuka..?

[Barrie B]

HI all,

 

I would like to enquire if a member of our prestigious board happened to win this unusual Kozuka recently?

 

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/o471217620

 

Thanks. 

 

Barrie.

 

[Spartancrest]

Not me!  Otafuka  お多福  (woman's 'moon' face) based as you say on a Nōh mask. [Maybe her sister was the looker?] 

[Barrie B]

Hi Dale,

 

LOL.. My interest is because I own this handsome 'Merchant' Koshirae (for lack of a better description) that has similar themed Menuki.. Bit of an unusual theme for a Samurai, I would have thought..? I think it was made very late Edo, when merchants and artists had money? Perhaps I should research the Kozuka artist to put an approximate date to the Kozuka, to support this theory.. I assume it was made for, and owned by a Kabuki artist..? Any other theories?

 

 

 

Barrie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Spartancrest]

I have had a look around and whereas there are plenty of tsuba with noh masks, other fittings are in short supply - makes it difficult to gauge age when there is so little to judge by. 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/8005-jp-samurai-sword-noh-mask-takasago-menuki

https://www.catawiki.com/l/43615829-Japanese-sign-higonokami-fujiwarateruhiro-saku-kogatana-hand-fan-hanya-mask-motif-iron-copper-Japan-edo-period-1600-1868

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Kozuka-Japan-Samurai-Hannya-mask-inlay-shakudo-sword-fitting-katana-tsuba-w-box-/183876758513

none of these are very close to your piece but you might get some clues?

[Barrie B]

Hi,

 

Thanks Dale. I see plenty of Hanya mask themed stuff. Especially Menuki and the odd Tsuba..Cheers for the links as well.

 

Barrie. 

[kissakai]

These are my masks - Sorry don't know anything about them apart from what they are

These are rushed images and the colour is way of for the first image

 

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by kissakai
Added extra info

[b.hennick]

Here is a tsuba with a mask theme.

[thutson]

That's a lovely tsuba Barry!

 

I have a Okina mask themed tsuba and a very nice Hannya mask tsuba.

Regards,

Tom

[Tanto54]

Dear @Barrie B,

 

The masks on your sword are Okame (also called Otafuku/Ofuku/Uzume) and Hyottoko (“fire man”).  They are usually considered a pair (and have been for hundreds of years).  Some traditions call them husband and wife.  Together they symbolize good luck and jolliness.  Okame is also known as the Moon Goddess who played a very important role in getting the Sun Goddess (Amaterasu) to come out of her cave and give light to the World (part of the legends of the founding of Japan).  She did a bawdy dance dropping her clothes and making all the other gods laugh, so Amaterasu (the Sun Goddess) came out of her cave to see what was happening.  Believe it or not, Okame was originally considered the epitome of Japanese beauty (evidentially Dale @Spartancrest doesn’t care for the ancient beauty standards in Japan… personally I'm with Dale...)  Today they are very common masks that are used in lots of festivals in Japan.  As I’ve said before, while this is a wakazashi, it is not necessarily a “merchant sword” (working hard to get rid of that old and misinformed stereotype…)  Okame derived from Noh plays which were written by and performed for the aristocracy (Samurai, NOT merchants).  While she has evolved into a more common figure, Okame’s origins were  in the Bushi class.

 

Grev @kissakai, yours is fascinating because it shows a man stuck between the two, diametrically opposed versions of a woman.  Your menuki are Okame and Hannya.  Okame is considered the perfect Wife (ever cheerful and supportive) whereas Hannya (on the opposite side) is considered the ultimate jealous woman.  In one of the Okame legends, she was supposedly based on a real Wife who gave her own life in support of her husband.  Hannya on the other hand became so jealous that she was transformed into a horned devil with a serpent’s body that became so hot that she burned her lover to death in jealousy.  Your sword must have been designed by Freud, because your kashira is Hyottoko (the Husband) caught between these two extremes!

 

[b.hennick]

George you continue to amaze me with the depth and breadth of your knowledge. You continue to make significant contributions here on  Nihontomessageboard.

[Brian]

Agreed!

 

[Curran]

2 hours ago, Tanto54 said:

 Okame was originally considered the epitome of Japanese beauty (evidentially Dale @Spartancrest doesn’t care for the ancient beauty standards in Japan… personally I'm with Dale...)

 

I had wondered about that, given that Akita women were considered highly desirable for their "moon faces".

I pondered whether this was an East vs West thing with shape, or whether a more direct issue about pale complexion.

From a query into old postcards, I had thought it more a complexion issue  alla, " white skin covers the seven flaws [iro no shiroi wa shichinan kakusu]" quote.

 

 

 

[kissakai]

Thanks George, a wonderful addition to my records. I wonder what Freud would have said about the Cicada nymph on the fuchi!

And of course Bob for suppling so much subject matter for discussion

[Tanto54]

Thank Guys -I appreciate the kind words - it really is my pleasure!

[Barrie B]

George (et al),

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge to broaden mine. And thanks to everyone else for sharing their items to increasing my limited understanding on the use of this theme.. Not as rare as I first thought. I never once imagined this O Tanto/ Ko Wakizashi might have actually been owned by a Bushi, and not by a Kabuki actor..

 

Thanks again.

 

Baz.

[Spartancrest]

I will just throw my one and only Okina mask tanto tsuba in, it is not that different to Tom's example except the mask and fan are on the one side with a flute on the ura - mine is not signed so impossible to attribute. I think we are all learning a great deal from this thread, great insight from George. Baz, by trying to find something about your pieces we have all gained, thanks very much.

 

[thutson]

Ah yes this also has an Okina (old man) mask theme. I believe it is one of the oldest of the Noh repertoire and represents an older male with long white beard expressing wisdom and bringing longevity to families. The rounded eyebrows and the separated lower jaw makes it different from the other masks, the chin is attached to the main mask by a cord (which you can see nicely in the attached picture). Okina masks have an abstract pattern of the deeply carved wrinkles around the forehead and cheeks and the formation of the eyes is in open slits, rather than sculpted eyeballs with a hole for the pupil.

 

I'm also enjoying and learning a lot from this thread, thanks for everyone who has shared something!

 

Tom

[Curran]

Well, one of my best attached. I almost was foolish enough to sell this one during a dry financial period.

 

 

[Tanto54]

Curran - that's a beauty!!!

[Barrie B]

Curran, that is a very nice Tsuba indeed..!  

 

Baz.

 

 

[Kurikata]

Noh mask ans music instruments..... in line withe Dale's tanto tsuba

[Spartancrest]

I am going to cry - everyone has a better example than me! 

Seriously nice gear guys!  Curran those eyes are scary, I hope I don't see you on 'Paranormal Caught on Camera'!  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9863048/

[darthlaker]

On 5/2/2021 at 1:07 AM, thutson said:

That's a lovely tsuba Barry!

 

I have a Okina mask themed tsuba and a very nice Hannya mask tsuba.

Regards,

Tom

 

@thutson - I was looking through this thread today and looks like we have a very similar mask design: 

 

 

 

[Jesta]

No mask on this one, but I am told that these are items for Noh plays. 

[kissakai]

My two tsuba masks

 

 

[Jake6500]

On 6/3/2024 at 10:13 AM, darthlaker said:

 

@thutson - I was looking through this thread today and looks like we have a very similar mask design: 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if the two refer to a particular (perhaps the same) Noh or Kyogen play as their theme or if this is coincidental.

 

I have a hunch that Tom's might be themed around the Noh play Momijigari as it features both the Hannya mask and what looks like a Japanese Maple Leaf(?) which is associated with the story.

 

https://en.wikipedia...ki/Momijigari_(play)

 

Yours however does not feature the Maple Leaf, so maybe the two are related to different plays.

[Jake6500]

To add another attachment to the thread, 

 

I just added this Hannya Mask Tsuba to my collection and feel like sharing...

 

Presumably this also relates to a Noh play, likely one that incorporates Buddhism as part of the story if the scroll is anything to go by.

 

If anyone has any idea which play it might commemorate, let me know! Aoi no Ue seems to make the most sense to me right now.

 

[wakiboy]

I was always told that this Kozuka was showing a Noh mask if anyone knows what it is please put me right.

Ian

 

 

 

[Spartancrest]

        The bulging forehead makes me think it could be Otafuku (?)  The profile view on the kozuka doesn't help.

[wakiboy]

Thank you Dale 

I will take another picture 

Ian