Karura men

A half-face samurai armor mask attributed to Takayoshi

Momoyama period, circa 1600

Provenance:

Kazuo Iida, Tokyo

Literature:

Iida, K., Katchū-men (Tokyo, 1991), cat. 73

In Indian mythology, the Karura was a sacred bird that ate a poisonous snake. When this deity was taken into Buddhism, it became one of the gods who guard the Buddhist faith. This figure is also one of the fourteen characters in the gigaku, a religious dance-drama that was performed for the Japanese royal court at Buddhist temple ceremonies from the 7th to the 10th century. Armor masks modelled after the gigaku mask of Karura started to appear during the late Muromachi period and show specific features: the beak is always wide and the nostrils are wide open in order to allow breathing without the addition of a mouth underneath.

The Meikō Zukan, a manuscript from the 18th century that reproduces some of the best armor pieces of Japan, includes a drawing of a similar mask with the attribution to Takayoshi. The mask has been identified and is published side by side with the present one by Kazuo Iida in his book on samurai masks. All features are almost identical and the two menpo look certainly crafted by the same maker.