Japanese Handcarved Wood TENGU Demon Mask Bugaku Shugend Orykai Forest Spirits
Item History & Price
19229 hand carved wood JapaneseTENGU mask. Mask is signed by the artist but I cannot make out the signature. See pictures for condition. The mask measures approximately 9 and 1/4 inches tall by 7 in wide by 9 1/2 inch deep from the nose to the back.Tengu(Japanese:, "heavenly dog")are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion. In Shinto, they are considered kami(gods) orykai(supernatural beings). Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou), t...he tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is widely considered the tengu's defining characteristic in the popular imagination. Buddhism long held that the tengu were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests. Tengu are associated with the ascetic practice of Shugend, and they are usually depicted in the garb of its followers, the yamabushi.
