zouonna　増女

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

A noh mask *noumen 能面, representing a young angel, goddess or enlightened woman. A cool reserve seen in the passive expression, flat cheeks, unsmiling lips, and intelligent high forehead lends this mask a stately dignity that contrasts with the open expression of *koomote 小面, and other standard young women's masks. The downcast eyes, narrow features, and horizontal brush strokes heighten the effect of other worldliness. The hairlines are drawn in the same style as *wakaonna 若女, but the lips have a darker hue. Zouonna is used by all schools for celestial women, such as the angel in HAGOROMO 羽衣 (Feather Robe), the mother goddess of the West in SEIOUBO 西王母 (Ch; Hsi Wang Mu), and the sun goddess Amaterasu 天照 in EMA 絵馬 (The Votive Tablets). At times the severity of zouonna's expression is deemed fit for roles of women who are really disguised demons, such as in MOMIJIGARI 紅葉狩 (Maple Viewing) or SESSHOUSEKI 殺生石 (Death Rock). The mask type is reputed to have been created by the talented dengaku 田楽 player Zouami 増阿弥, who was a contemporary of Zeami Motokiyo 世阿弥元清 (1363-1443) and favored by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利義滿 (1358-1408). Variations on the mask include nakizou 泣増 (weeping zou), with narrower eyes and more piqued features and the still more introverted houraionna 宝来女, said to have been invented by the Muromachi period carver Hourai 宝来. Many fine examples of zouonna exist, including several older masks at the Tokyo National Museum. Sculpturally, the standard young woman's mask of the Houshou 宝生 school, *fushikizou 節木増, belongs within the zou 増 category.

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