Mask for the Noh Play Okina

dated 1879

Not on view

The Noh play Okina is a sacred rite in which actors perform as divine characters who dance for peace, prosperity, and safety across the land.While the character Senzai dances, the shite (lead actor) puts on the mask of Okina to transform into a deity. The mask shown here peers out from a brocaded silk mask bag embellished with the auspicious motifs of tortoiseshell patterns and crane roundels.

Artwork Details

柴田是真作　翁面図
Title: Mask for the Noh Play Okina
Artist: Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
Date: dated 1879
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; pigments, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, gold foil, and ink on paper
Dimensions: 11 3/8 x 16 1/8 in. (28.9 x 41 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
Object Number: 1975.268.136
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Shibata Zeshin

From the same time and place

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Case (Inrō) in the Shape of an Ink Stick with Design of God of Longevity (Jurōjin), Reading beneath a Star Constellation (obverse);Twelve-Character Inscription (reverse), Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Roiro (waxen) lacquer with black hiramakie sprinkled and polished lacquer and takamakie sprinkled and polished lacquer relief; Interior: roiro; Netsuke: lacquer in shape of a worn ink stick; Ojime: black lacquer bead, Japan — Case (Inrō) in the Shape of an Ink Stick with Design of God of Longevity (Jurōjin), Reading beneath a Star Constellation (obverse);Twelve-Character Inscription (reverse)
Shibata Zeshin
19th century

Poem Card (Tanzaku) Box with Flower Bouquet, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Lacquered wood with gold, silver, color, takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, and togidashimaki-e, Japan — Poem Card (Tanzaku) Box with Flower Bouquet
Shibata Zeshin
19th century

Rising Sun, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan — Rising Sun
Shibata Zeshin
second half of the 19th century

Three Men Looking at Framed Lacquer Drawing, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Album leaf; lacquer on gold paper, Japan — Three Men Looking at Framed Lacquer Drawing
Shibata Zeshin

Village among Rocks, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Colored lacquers on paper, Japan — Village among Rocks
Shibata Zeshin
19th century

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