Theatrical Mask
date: label: Accession Date
content: 5 Jul 1899
label: Collection Date
content: 1898
name: label: Collector
content: Prof Alexander G. Bell
label: Donor Name
content: Prof Alexander G. Bell
notes: label: Notes
content: Illus. and described p. 190 in Robert Pontsioen, "The Alexander Graham Bell Collection of Japanese Masks at the Smithsonian," Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 17, no. 2 (Autumn 2018), https://doi.org/10.29411/ncaw.2018.17.2.8 (accessed ‎November‎ ‎6‎, ‎2018). Identified there: Artist unknown, Mask, Japan, ca. 1898. Wood, gofun, glass, paper, animal hair, fiber twine, paint. 8.4 x 7 x 3.5 in.This mask has slightly crossed eyes and a comical expression. The hair appears to be from an animal, possibly from the Japanese tanuki (raccoon); it has been applied to a strip (likely of paper) that was then glued to the mask. The eyelashes are painted. The nostrils and mouth pass through the mask. As with several of the other masks in this collection, there is a small label on the reverse with "#118" written on it (the meaning of this is unknown). There is damage to the lower part of the right ear and the chin, revealing the gofun (a kind of gesso made with the calcium carbonate found in oyster shells), and underlying wood composite. A string has been attached through a hole that was drilled into each ear after the mask was made, presumably to hang the mask on a wall.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 7 Jul 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Japan, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Japanese
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 035254
label: USNM Number
content: E204160-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Mask