VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART
Masks carved by celebrated experts are among the most valued treasures of aesthetic Japan. They are wrapped in silk and preserved in lacquered boxes with all the care appropriate to fine works of art; and they deserve such attention, for in this class of sculpture Japan stands unequalled and unapproached by any other country. Miniature reproductions of classic types, carved in ivory, wood, or metal, sometimes merely as examples of skilled sculpture, sometimes in groups of two or more to form netsuke,—presently to be spoken of,—and sometimes as ornaments for sword-furniture, are included in many foreign assemblages of Japanese art-objects, but the finest masks of the mimetic dance have seldom come within reach of Western collectors.
The names and dates of celebrated mask-carvers are these:—
| Nikkō | 
|
tenth century. Only a few masks by these experts are extant. |
| Mirokō | 
| |
| Yasha | 
|
| Bunzo—thirteenth century. A Buddhist priest. | ||
| Hibi Munetada (called Hibi because he worked at Hibi in Etchiu)—fourteenth century. Carved meagre faces skilfully. | ||
| Echi Yoshifune—fourteenth century. | ||
| Koushi, or Kiyomitsu—fifteenth century. | ||
| Shakuzuru (called also Yoshinari and Ittosai, art name)—fourteenth century. Celebrated for faces of warriors. | ||
| Ishikawa Riuyemon Shigemasa—fourteenth century. Celebrated for masks of women and children. | ||
| Tokuwaka Tadamasa—fifteenth century. Specially skilled in planting hair. | ||
| Sanko—fifteenth century. A Buddhist priest. |
N. B. The above are distinguished as Jissaku, or "true sculptors."
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