Kon'nichiwa dear customers welcome to this wonderful ebay auction for this JAPANESE USED NOH THEATRE HAND CARVED WOOD KYOGEN SARU MONKEY MASK EX CONDITION

This mask is just fantastic a true representation of its character. 

The solid wood mask has been hand carved and hones a porcelain like finish.

Dimensions; Length 245mm, max width 187mm, max depth 64mm.

THERE IS A 19MM X 5MM PAINT FLECK ON THE SIDE OF THE MASK (SEE PICTURES) OTHERWISE IN NEW CONDITION .

Happy Bidding !

This mask features the attributes of the classic beauty of the heian period  : eyebrows were shaved, the hair is treated and capped teeth are blackened and 

Masks women tend to be similar, the easiest way to differentiate is the pattern formed by the strands of hair on their forehead; in the case of KB-Omote , a painted hairstyle has three bits on each side in the middle and separated nonoverlapping 

There are many variations of this type of mask, where the cheeks are rounder, more separate and different features carved and painted in the mask to increase the degree of sensuality lips. To change the age of the woman, the eyes can be cut more deeply and square openings are used for masks young women when we use those half-circles masks older women 

This mask is suitable to play the role of young women in the Noh play matsukaze or the role of shizuka gozen in funa benkei 

Noh (能 Nō?), or Nogaku (能楽 Nōgaku?)—derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent"—is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 13th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and consists of five Noh plays interspersed with shorter, humorous kyōgen pieces. However, present-day Noh performances often consist of two Noh plays with one Kyōgen play in between.

While the field of Noh performance is extremely codified, and regulated by the iemoto system, with an emphasis on tradition rather than innovation, some performers do compose new plays or revive historical ones that are not a part of the standard repertoire. Works blending Noh with other theatrical traditions have also been produced.

The traditional Noh stage consists of a pavilion whose architectural style is derived from that of the traditional kagura stage of Shinto shrines, and is normally composed almost entirely of hinoki (Japanese cypress) wood. The four pillars are named for their orientation to the prominent actions during the course of the play: the waki-bashira in the front, right corner near the waki's standing point and sitting point; the shite-bashira in the rear, left corner, next to which the shite normally performs; the fue-bashira in the rear, right corner, closest to the flute player; and the metsuke-bashira, or "sighting-pillar", so called because shite use it in order to navigate the stage while their vision is restricted by the mask.

The floor is polished to enable the actors to move in a gliding fashion, and beneath this floor are buried giant pots or bowl-shaped concrete structures to enhance the resonant properties of the wood floors when the actors stomp heavily on the floor (compare nightingale floor). As a result, the stage is elevated approximately three feet above the ground level of the audience.

The only ornamentation on the stage is the kagami-ita, a painting of a pine tree at the back of the stage. The two most common beliefs are that it represents either a famous pine tree of significance in Shinto at the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, or that it is a token of Noh's artistic predecessors which were often performed to a natural backdrop.

Another unique feature of the stage is the hashigakari, the narrow bridge at stage right that the principal actors use to enter the stage. This would later evolve into the hanamichi in kabuki.

All stages which are solely dedicated to Noh performances also have a hook or loop in the ceiling, which exists only to lift and drop the bell for the play Dōjōji. When that play is being performed in another location, the loop or hook will be added as a temporary fixture.

The garb worn by actors is typically adorned quite richly and steeped in symbolic meaning for the type of role (e.g. thunder godswill have hexagons on their clothes while serpents have triangles to convey scales). Costumes for the shite in particular are extravagant, shimmering silk brocades, but are progressively less sumptuous for the tsure, the wakizure, and the aikyōgen.

For centuries, in accordance with the vision of Zeami, Noh costumes emulated the clothing that the characters would genuinely wear, whether that be the formal robes of a courtier or the street clothing of a peasant or commoner. It was not until the late sixteenth century that stylized Noh costumes following certain symbolic and stylistic conventions became the norm.

The musicians and chorus typically wear formal montsuki kimono (black and adorned with five family crests) accompanied by either hakama (a skirt-like garment) orkami-shimo, a combination of hakama and a waist-coat with exaggerated shoulders (see illustrations). Finally, the stage attendants are garbed in virtually unadorned black garments, much in the same way as stagehands in contemporary Western theater.

Noh masks (能面 nō-men or 面 omote) all have names. They are carved from blocks of Japanese cypress (檜 "hinoki"), and painted with natural pigments on a neutral base of glue and crunched seashell.

Usually only the shite, the main actor, wears a mask. However, in some cases, the tsure may also wear a mask, particularly in the case of female roles. Noh masks portray female or nonhuman (divine, demonic, or animal) characters. There are also Noh masks to represent youngsters or old men. On the other hand, a Noh actor who wears no mask plays a role of an adult man in his twenties, thirties, or forties. The side player, the waki, wears no mask either.

Several types of masks, in particular those for female roles, are designed so that slight adjustments in the position of the head can express a number of emotions such as fear or sadness due to the variance in lighting and the angle shown towards the audience. With some of the more extravagant masks for deities and monsters, however, it is not always possible to convey emotion. Usually, however, these characters are not frequently called to change emotional expression during the course of the scene, or show emotion through larger body language.

The rarest and most valuable Noh masks are not held in museums even in Japan, but rather in the private collections of the various "heads" of Noh schools; these treasures are usually only shown to a select few and only taken out for performance on the rarest occasions.