#buddhistmask
LightNews LightNews
patrickkapty.bsky.social
Processional Oni Mask
wood, gesso, paint
18th century CE
Japan

#Japan #japanesemask #buddhism #buddhistmask #buddha #guardiandeity #wrathful #protective #onimask #talisman #religion #folklore #art #processional #mask #carved #wood #handmade #gesso #polychrome #paint #midEdoperiod #18thcentury #CE
An Oni mask is a traditional Japanese, demon-like mask featuring horns, fangs, and a fierce expression, symbolizing both the terrifying aspects of folklore and protection against evil. Deeply rooted in Japanese culture, these masks often represent human emotions like anger or jealousy, acting as a talisman for warding off negativity. This exceptionally striking mask is a piece of Mingei, or Japanese folk art. It was once owned by the British collector and dealer of ethnographic art and European arms and armour William Ockleford Oldman (1879-1949), whose reference catalogues from 1901 and 1913 remain an important source of information today. Oldman pieces can be found in the British Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Pitt Rivers Museum. What is even more unusual is that it actually appears in a famous photograph of Oldman with his collection around 1920 that is now in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand.
April 2, 2026 at 4:20 PM
patrickkapty.bsky.social
Krodha (Mahakala) mask
carved wood, pigment
c. late 19th century
Tibet

#krodha #mahakala #mask #carved #wood #pigments #festivalmask #buddhistmask #buddhism #buddha #handmade #fierce #fangs #skullcrown #flamingeyes #thirdeye #droopinglobes #culture #religion #19thcentury #tibet #buddhistsculpture
Central Asia, Tibet, ca. late 19th to early 20th century CE. A wonderful example of a hand-carved wooden festival mask of a sizable form. The fierce countenance is comprised of bulging hemispherical eyes beneath flaming brows, a furrowed nose with delineated nostrils, a gaping mouth filled with huge fangs, large ears with drooping lobes, and a corkscrew beard. Centered on the forehead is a third eye and a crown replete with five stylized human skulls representing the five Bodhisattvas, and traces of red, yellow, blue, and white pigment are visible around the front. The deity depicted is Mahakala, the god known as the “Great Black One” or “Great Time.” Time is believed to be the destroyer of all things in Tibetan mythology and is therefore symbolic of death and destruction.
June 13, 2026 at 1:12 PM