A JAPANESE MYOCHIN YASURIME MENPO

A JAPANESE MYOCHIN YASURIME MENPO

EDO PERIOD, 17TH OR 18TH CENTURY

The mask in iron engraved with thin parallel lines, with a detachable nose and L-shaped odayori-no-kugi (cord hooks) to the cheeks, the mouth half-open to reveal silvered teeth, the upper lip with red lacquer and hair moustache and chin tuft, the throat guard yodarekake with five rows of kiritsuke kozane in iron, the surface covered in black lacquer and with blue lace kebiki odoshi, the inside in red lacquer, unsigned, 25.5cm.

Provenance: from a private European collection.

PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE

The name yasurime ('file marks') refers to the parallel lines in the surface. This shape was a favourite of Hosokawa Sansai (1563-1646), the samurai warrior who led 5,000 men in the Tokugawa vanguard at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600).