Batou　抜頭

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Also written 髪頭, 鉢頭, 撥頭. A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask of a terse, red faced man worn in the performance. Classification (see *bugakumen 舞楽面): A dynamic dance, hashirimai 走舞 of the Right; u-no-mai 右舞, introduced reputedly by a Brahmin from India and performed by one person wearing a fringed tunic and pantaloons; ryoutou shouzoku 裲襠装束, and carrying a short stick. As depicted in the 12c scroll of Shinzei's Illustrations of Ancient Music Shinzei kogaku-zu 信西古楽図 in the Youmei Bunko 陽明文庫 of Kyoto, the climax of the dance comes when the tightly twisted blue cords that form the hair are thrown forward over the mask face and the dancer draws his crooked fingers over them, as if combing his locks. According to one explanation, the cords represent the mane of the white horse which has killed a snake, to another they are hair the dancer pulls when desperately searching for the dead body of his father. A third explanation claims that the dance celebrates the killing of a wild beast that had killed a father. Batou has retained its popularity from the 8c to the present day. Although it is a speciality of the Shiba 芝 family in Nara, the wide area in which these masks are found suggests it has been performed in many other places, as well. Particularly fine is the 1173 Batou mask at Itsukushima Jinja 厳島神社 by the Buddhist sculptor *busshi 仏師, Shamon Gyoumyou 沙門行明. The tense, red face glares with crossed eyes. Navy blue cords dangle over the cheeks. The large forehead of this Batou mask aptly suggests the alternative characters for the name 鉢頭 (bowl head). Although on first glance it would be easy to confuse Batou with the mask for its partner dance *Konju 胡飲酒, many details differ. The set lips expose two rows of teeth on Batou the cord hair is implanted densely and randomly without a parting in the middle, and finally the eyebrows are separated at the nose bridge, rather than joined as on Konju.

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