HOME > Collection > Sculpture > Ko-omote Mask, named Narano
- By Iseki Kawachi
- Japan Edo period, 17th century
- Polychrome on wood
- h: 21.2cm w: 13.6cm
- [20213]
This mask is for a young female role - fresh, pure, and beautiful. The character “ko” or small, implies adorable in Noh masks. The inside surface of the mask is inscribed with a waka poem that speaks of the yaezakura cherry trees of the old capital at Nara and how their scent wafts through the present-day court in Kyoto. The poem’s Nara reference explains the mask’s name Narano, literally the Nara plain.