A gigaku mask


Muromachi period (1333-1573), 15th/16th centuryCarved in wood with lacquer and pigment over gesso as Gojo (Woman of Wu)With a wooden tomobako storage box 13 1/4in (33.6cm) high
|The Woman of Wu belongs to a group of masks known as Gojin, which represent the people of the Wu kingdom. This mask was worn in the play Konron. For a Nara-period example of this mask in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum registered as an Important Cultural Property, see http://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100769/018/005word=&d_lang=en&s_lang=&class=&title=&c_e=®ion=&era=&cptype=&owner=&pos=1&num=1&mode=¢ury=, and for an example in the Imperial collection housed in the Shosoin see http://shosoin.kunaicho.go.jp/ja-JP/Treasure?id=0000013924