shoujou　猩猩

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

A noh mask *noumen 能面 representing a good-luck sea sprite, fond of drinking. Sculpturally of the same conception as *douji 童子 and *jidou 慈童, shoujou is immediately recognizable by the bright red coloring indicative of intoxication. The mouth curls into a broad smile exposing a suggestion of lower teeth as well as upper, painted white at the tip, black at the base. The cheek muscles pull back for the smile and the へ shaped eyes twinkle. Loose strands of hair fall lightly over rising eyebrows. Used exclusively for the role of shojou elves in the play SHOUJOU 猩猩 or the Kanze 観世 school TAIHEI SHOUJOU 大瓶猩猩. These inebriated sprites present a wine merchant with a spring of wine that never runs dry. A very fine example housed in Tenkawa Daibenzaitensha 天河大弁財天社, Nara, bears an inscription with the date 1591.

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*otokomen 男面

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