RYO-O

Lacquered wooden Bugaku mask of dragon king. The mask is made of wood, lacquered black on the inside and mostly gold on the outside. Moustache formed of short bunches of bristle protruding from holes above the mouth. Winged crouching dragon on top of mask - the legs appear at either side of the mask, in front of large wings behind which are holes for cords. Four apertures, two for eyes, two for nostrils. Behind the eyes are ridges at either side, each with a small hole as if something was once attached there. Pointed nose. Heavily ridged eyebrows. Lower jaw, which would have been a separate piece, is missing. Six teeth in upper jaw. Black hair in ridges. Two-tiered flattish circular area at top of forehead, above which a dragon's head protrudes, with front legs and claws to either side. Accompanying card reads:'Mask of dragon king Matsi Uba.'

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk