yaseonna　痩女

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

A noh mask *noumen 能面 representing the suffering spirit of a woman who dies from problems in a love relationship. *Nou 能 tradition has it that the mask was first conceived of for the role of the Princess Shokushi 式子, who died shortly after an illicit affair with Fujiwara Teika 藤原定家. Teika's spirit becomes a vine suffocatingly winding itself around her grave. With the help of prayers, she finally finds salvation. A variation of *ryouonna 霊女, yaseonna has a pitiful plight calling for sympathy; her greater passivity is seen particularly in the lack of gold or red in the eyes. The prominent bones form a tense triangle above the sunken cheeks, at times angularly sculpted, at times with rounded edges. The eyes stare down listlessly from a bone-ridged hollow. Still a gentle elegance pervades the mask, a soft tragic expression that validates the final salvation. The choice of ryouonna or yaseonna for a given performance of TEIKA 定家, MOTOMEZUKA 求塚 (The Sought for Grave) or KINUTA 砧 (Fulling Block), reflects the actor's interpretation of the role. It can also be used for old woman in the first half of plays like KUROZUKA 黒塚 (also ADACHIGAHARA 安達ヶ原). The 15c carver Himi 氷見 (see *jissaku 十作 ) is known for his fine yaseonna masks; a good example can be found in the Tokugawa 徳川 Art Museum, Aichi prefecture, dated to the 16c and traditionally attributed to Echi Yoshifune 越智吉舟.

REFERENCES:

*onnamen 女面, *komachi 小町, *higakionna 桧垣女, *uba 姥, *roujo 老女

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