Masks from various sources are essential evidence of Japanese culture and an art form in themselves. The masks are featured in various forms of dance and theater, most of which are highly stylized according to tradition.
Most important, perhaps, is Noh Drama. Masks are expressive of the role of the character being played but therefore are basically of fixed appearance, but as creatively imagined by the mask-maker. The drama is expressed furthermore by the elaborate costumes and by the dance-like action and song. Even so, to Western audiences, “the plot” moves so slowly as to be virtually unnoticeable. Noh is based on stories from the 12th-16th centuries, with a supernatural being in human form narrating. Emotions (?) are conveyed with stylized, conventional gestures, and the iconic masks define the role of women, ghosts, deities, and devils. Masks are sometimes created by a master mask-maker and take on the aura of works of sculptural art, commanding high prices at auction. They are generally made of wood, papier mâché, plaster, even ceramics.
Another notable source for masks is Bugaku, a solemn and elegant dance (to Gagaku, classical court music) that has been performed for social elites and particularly in the Japanese Imperial Court, for over twelve hundred years. It is marked by slow, regal, formal, and highly meticulous movements on a square 6-x 6-yard stage. The dance is characterized by elaborate, gorgeous traditional Buddhist costumes and highly expressive, stylized masks that differentiate the character’s role in the story. Judging by their formal beauty, several of the masks among +in the Regelski Collection seem to be from Bugaku.
Kabuki, is a separate form of dance-drama where masks, as such, are replaced with masklike heavy make-up, where different colors and lines represent various characters or their virtue. Folk. ethnic, and ritualistic dances are highly prescribed as to historical traditions in a given region or village. They deal with local interests such as rain, food, rice fishing, etc., and according to traditions and resources, frequently feature masks. The Regelski collection has around 45-50 masks, some describing the same character by different mask-makers.
