gigakumen 伎楽面

Masks worn for performances of *gigaku 伎楽, now-lost temple processions and mimed skits with musical accompaniment. Most extant masks date from the 6th-8th century, with a few copies made as late as the 13th century. The largest and most sculpturesque of Japanese masks, gigakumen are often as much as four times the size of a human head and so constructed as to cover not only the face, but also the crown of the head. The sculpture, either in wood (usually paulownia kiri 桐, or older examples in camphor kusu 樟) or in dry lacquer *kanshitsu 乾漆, tends to be vigorous, with bold expressions of great variety. The prominent noses and deep set features of many masks are reminiscent of Persian or Indian faces. This suggests the possible origins of gigaku performances in Central Asia. A few of the masks, such as *Chidō 治道 or *Shishiko 師子児, probably were employed only in the procession, while the others (Buddhist figures, men, and one woman) portrayed roles in the skits. In Japan, masks were often produced in sets of 13 or 14 different types (probably for a complete performance) at one time. Most of the over 200 gigaku masks that remain today are housed at Hōryūji 法隆寺, the Hōryūji treasure house at Tokyo National Museum, Tōdaiji 東大寺, Nara, and the *Shōsōin 正倉院 Repository. Those connected with Hōryūji are on the whole older. Among the various styles of masks in the Shōsōin those (in paulownia and dry lacquer) made specially for the gala performances staged at the Eye Opening Ceremony Daibutsu kaigen kuyō 大仏開眼供養 at Tōdaiji in 752 are the most sophisticated in modeling. Inscriptions on the masks indicate carver, date and use. Those made by sculptors of Buddhist statues *busshi 仏師, such as Enkinshi 延均師, Kieishi 基永師, and Shōri no Uonari 将李魚成, are primed with a lacquer base coat on which polychrome colors were applied with lavish attention to shading. Interestingly, later enlargements of the eyeholes and perforation-holes around the outer edges (for attaching a cloth cap) attest to repeated use, suggesting that though they were dedicated to Tōdaiji, they were not merely kept in storage. Other gigaku masks have a kaolin *hakudo 白土 base coat with various styles of polychrome highlights. Shōsōin masks produced after this 752 group usually bear dates, and some, the names of provinces, suggesting they were locally made and later dedicated to the repository. The full set of gigaku masks includes: *Shishi 師子, Shishiko, Chidō, *Gokō 呉公, *Gojo 呉女, *Rikishi 力士, *Kongō 金剛, *Karura 迦楼羅, *Kuron 崑崙, *Baramon 波羅門, *Taiko 太孤, *Suiko 酔胡.