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gigakumen 伎楽面 | ||||||
KEY WORD : art history / sculptures | ||||||
Masks
worn for performances of *gigaku
伎楽, now lost temple processions and mimed skits with musical accompaniment.
Most extant masks date from the 6-8c, with a few
copies made as late as the 13c. The largest and most sculpturesque
of Japanese masks, gigakumen are often as much as four times
the size of a human head and so constructed as to cover not only the face,
but also the crown of the head. The sculpture, either in wood (usually paulownia
kiri 桐, or older examples in camphor kusu 樟) or in dry lacquer
*kanshitsu 乾漆, tends
to be vigorous, with bold expressions of great variety. The prominent noses
and deep set features of many masks are reminiscent of Persian or Indian
faces. This suggests the possible origins of gigaku performances
in Central Asia. A few of the masks, such as *Chidou
治道 or *Shishiko 師子児,
probably were employed only in the procession, while the others (Buddhist
figures, men, and one woman) portrayed roles in the skits. In Japan, masks
were often produced in sets of 13 or 14 different types (probably for a
complete performance) at one time. Most of the over 200 gigaku masks
that remain today are housed at Houryuuji 法隆寺, the Houryuuji treasure
house at Tokyo Ntional Museum, Toudaiji 東大寺, Nara, and the *Shousouin
正倉院 Repository. Those connected with Houryuuji are on the whole older. Among
the various styles of masks in the Shousouin those (in paulownia and dry
lacquer) made specially for the gala performances staged at the Eye Opening
Ceremony Daibutsu kaigen kuyou 大仏開眼供養 at Toudaiji in 752 are the
most sophisticated in modeling. Inscriptions on the masks indicate carver,
date and use. Those made by sculptors of Buddhist statues *busshi
仏師, such as Enkinshi 延均師, Kieishi 基永師, and Shouri no Uonari 将李魚成, are primed
with a lacquer base coat on which polychrome colors were applied with lavish
attention to shading. Interestingly, later enlargements of the eyeholes
and perforation-holes around the outer edges (for attaching a cloth cap)
attest to repeated use, suggesting that though they were dedicated to Toudaiji,
they were not merely kept in storage. Other gigaku masks have a kaolin
*hakudo 白土 base coat
with various styles of polychrome highlights. Shousouin masks produced after
this 752 group usually bear dates, and some, the names of provinces, suggesting
they were locally made and later dedicated to the repository. The full set
of gigaku masks includes: *Shishi
師子, Shishiko, Chidou, *Gokou
呉公, *Gojo 呉女, *Rikishi
力士, *Kongou 金剛, *Karura
迦楼羅, *Kuron 崑崙, *Baramon
波羅門, *Taiko
太孤, *Suiko
酔胡. |
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REFERENCES: | ||||||
*bugakumen 舞楽面, *noumen 能面, *kyougenmen 狂言面 | ||||||
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NOTES: | ||||||
(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. No reproduction or republication without written permission. 掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。 |
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