Tengu mask

[katonk66]

Hello all. I'm aware that this is sort of a really "I need to have the piece in my hands, and the pictures don't tell a lot" question: But is there a way of ascertaining the BROAD RANGE of the age of a tengu mask? Or is it more of a "authentic" versus "modern tourist repro" breakdown? And old versus new as opposed to an actual era or date? (piece is from a Japanese seller)

Thanks

 

Henry

 

[Jake6500]

First and foremost I want to state the obvious: I am not an expert in this field.

 

That aside there are a couple deductions we could make about the age of this mask. Firstly, long-nosed Tengu depictions were thought to have been conceived of in the 14th century, so this mask is certainly not a piece from the Kamakura Period or earlier, but you probably already knew that. 

 

It's probably safe to assume this mask is from the Edo Period or later based on it's relatively good condition and the rise in popularity Noh Theatre underwent in the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo Periods. These masks have generally been used either in the theatre or in Shinto festivals so this is a relatively safe assumption to make. 

 

What I will say is that the materials lend credibility to the belief that this might be an authentic mask, at least in my mind. I would expect an Edo Period mask of this kind to be made of wood like this one, and the cord resembles the material and appearance of other Late Edo Period and Early Meiji Period artefacts I have seen/handled. A bit frayed which would be hardly surprising given the age, but similar nonetheless. You see this type of cord/rope on a lot of Late Edo or Meiji Period artefacts from inro to yoroi armour. A closer picture of the cord to confirm this would be nice, but you could probably make the comparison just from the last picture alone.

 

It is also very possible however, that the mask might be from the Meiji Period or even a later period than this and altered to look "older". 

 

All this being said, in my personal opinion and with my limited expertise, I think it is *plausible* that this item is an authentic Late Edo or Meiji Period piece (think 1800-1910).

 

Here is an example of a Mid-Edo era mask from the Brooklyn Museum for comparison, which would in my estimation be just a few decades older:

https://www.brooklyn...ection/objects/27398

 

I guess the likelihood of this item being authentic would also depend on the sellers overall reliability.