Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries

I purchased this at an estate tag sale. I was told that it was originally purchased in Japan in 1953 and supposedly "old" at that time. The plate is approximately 18 inches in diameter. It has stilt marks from kiln on back, apparently confirming the Japanese origin. This was very inexpensive and I thought the theme unusual (at least to me). There appears to be two masks (female demon w/ horns & male w/ tied beard), drum with tassels, & scripts, all elements from Noh theatre. Any comments, ideas about date (1950 or 1900?), maker, etc. would be welcome. Glazed porcelain (some nice iridescence) with what appears to be gilt overpainting to my untrained eye. The rim border design I thought unusual. I will add additional photos, including marks from back. (My apologies for photo quality, I am doing this for first time.) An odd piece to me, any insight to its origins and history would be most welcome.

additional photos

You are obviously correct in that this is a Noh theater theme. I can tell you that the female horned figure is almost always a Hannya, but in this case, because of the lack of ears, it is a Jya. The male mask is Okina. I hope this helps.

James

Very much thanks for both the Noh theme confirmation and the names of the characters!

Very much thanks! This info is greatly appreciated!

Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |