Japanese Hyottoko Carved Wood Mask by Hoban

Item Details

Wood

A Japanese Shōwa era (1926-1989) carved wooden hyottoko (火男) mask, signed Hōban (鳳番). The work is a dynamically carved version of the classic hyottoko comic mask with puckered lips and skewed eyes. The verso of the mask features a carved inscription noting the mask was carved in Karasuyama (烏山), the artist’s name (鳳番), and that he was 70 years old when the he completed the work (七十歳作).

Condition

- to fair; item could benefit from a cleaning; some scratches to the surface of the carving; cracks to the nose of the mask; additional crack to the bottom of the mask; to the verso, staining and wear.

Dimensions

Item #

18DCC226-033