The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 11, 2023

Gikaku Mask of Young Persian Boy (Taikōji)

伎楽面・太孤児

710–94

Japan, Nara period

(710-94)

Paulownia wood, lacquered and painted

Overall: 28 x 21 x 18.5 cm (11 x 8 1/4 x 7 5/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1949.158

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This is the mask for one of two sons who accompany a widower in ancient dance theater.

Description

This mask is for the role of the son of an old Persian widower in gigaku, a theatrical dance repertoire imported to Japan from continental Asia during the seventh century. The old man and his sons mime prayers to the Buddha. While the mask would cover the entire head of the actor, there are openings for the eyes, nostrils, and mouth.

Provenance
?-1949
(Hollis & Company, Cleveland, OH, and New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1949-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Milliken, William M. “A Gigaku Mask.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 37, no. 8, 1950, pp. 176–178. Reproduced: cover; Mentioned; pp. 176-178 www.jstor.org
Milliken, William M. “Important Acquisitions of Japanese Art.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 38, no. 9, 1951, pp. 211–217. Mentioned: p. 211 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 900 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 273 archive.org
Mayuyama, Junkichi. Japanese Art in the West. Tokyo: Mayuyama & Co, 1966. Reproduced: pl. 9, pp. 10 and 341
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 273 archive.org
Lee, Sherman E. “Noh: Masks and Robe.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 62, no. 2, 1975, pp. 26–35. Reproduced: fig. 1, p. 27 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 369 archive.org
Yamane, Yūzō 山根有三, Shūjirō Shimada 島田修二郎, and Terukazu Akiyama 秋山光和. Zaigai Nihon no shihō [在外日本の至宝 = Japanese art: selections from western collections]. Tōkyō: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1979. Reproduced: no. 93, p. 154, pl. 93
Zenzo Shimizu, "Japanese Sculptures in America and Canada," Ars Buddhica 佛教藝術, no. 126 (September 1979), part I, pp. 67-88. Reproduced: fig. 29, p. 74
Lee, Sherman E, Ursula Korneitchouk, Michael R Cunningham, Ursula Korneitchouk, Cleveland Museum of Art, Japan House Gallery, Japan Society (New York, N.Y.), and Japan House Gallery. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue. New York: Japan Society, 1981. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 17, no. 3
Mizuno, Keizaburō 水野敬三郎, Hideo Okada 岡田英男, and Kazuharu Asai 浅井和春. Tōdaiji to Heijōkyō: Nara no kenchiku, chōkoku [東大寺と平城京 : 奈良の建築・彫刻 = The Sculpture and Architecture of the Nara Dynasty ]. Tōkyō: Kōdansha, 1990. Reproduced: fig. 148, p. 147
Vilbar, Sinéad. "The Japanese Art Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1915-1951." In Great Waves & Mountains: Perspectives and Discoveries in Collecting the Arts of Japan. Natsu Oyobe, and Allysa B. Peyton, eds., 160–197. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2022. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 180–181, fig. 7.15
Exhibition history

One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650) from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Japan House Gallery, New York, NY (Spring 1981).

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 237). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 10, 2013-November 17, 2015).

35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).

The Mask. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 1951-January 14, 1952).

Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11-October 10, 1965).

Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.158