Sogyoku - amber Noh mask netsuke

circa 1890

An amber Noh mask netsuke of Okina

An amber Noh mask netsuke of Okina, the forehead deeply wrinkled and the sparse eyebrows designated with pierced dots. The mouth is pulled into a wide smile and he sports a short curling beard on his chin.

Bushell (Collectors’ Netsuke) records Sogyoku as a competent craftsman about whom little is known (p. 144). He also observes that the many mask netsuke were produced because “For many apprentices, then, mask carving was the initial test on the arduous road to independent craftsmanship.” He illustrates similar wood mask of the same subject by Sogyoku on page 160, pl. 287.

An amber Noh mask netsuke of Okina
An amber Noh mask netsuke of Okina
SOLD

Signed: Sogyoku to
Height: 4.4cm

Signature Sogyoku