Live Auction 20991Japanese and Korean Art
A LACQUERED LEATHER KARURA MENPO (FACE MASK)
Lot 123

A LACQUERED LEATHER KARURA MENPO (FACE MASK)

EDO PERIOD (18TH-19TH CENTURY)

Closed20 September 2022

Price Realised

USD 10,080

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A LACQUERED LEATHER KARURA MENPO (FACE MASK)
EDO PERIOD (18TH-19TH CENTURY)
The lacquered leather menpo (face mask) of Karura (Garuda) in black, applied with the ase-nagashi (sweat hole) and odayori no kugi (cord hooks) under the chin and odayorigane (cord flanges) on cheeks, with two-tier yodare-kake (bib) of lacquered iron plates
Accompanied by a certificate of registration as a Tokubetsu kicho shiryo (Special Important Material) no. 1960 issued by the Nihon Katchu Bugu Kenkyu Hozon Kai (Japanese Armor Preservation Society), dated 2022.5.22

Specialist note

This face mask is formed as the head of the half-bird half-human god Garuda (Karura in Japanese). In Hindu mythology, he is the eagle-like vehicle and emblem of Vishnu, preserver of the universe. Garuda appears in Buddhist mythology as a protector of the Dharma Law.