fusakumen　布作面

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Lit. cloth masks. Also sakumen 作面. Eighth century burlap (ramie) pieces with a human face sketched in the center in ink, sometimes with added colors. Holes are cut for eyes, some large, some irregular at the pupils, and some as narrow slits above the lower eyelids. Most are rectangles, some have lower corners cut round. With the exception of one female face that has gentle eyes without openings, small red lips and a black topknot, all the other faces are of bearded men of various ages and expressions. Reference to 25 fusakumen used in a dance piece called Touchuugaku 東中楽 appears in the *Shousouin 正倉院　document of 764. These may be among the 32 cloth masks preserved in the Repository now.

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(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。