W140xD80xH210mm, China
The white coloured face most often denote a villain in the Chinese opera.
This is a mask of the Qin dynasty prime minister Zhau Gao. In the opera story, “Yu Zhou Feng” (Sword of the Universe) happened in a time during the regime of Emperor Qin Er Shi. Zhau Gao and Kuang Hong was in laws, with Zhau’s daughter married into Kuang’s family. Kuang showed his displeased about how Zhau was manipulating the Emperor caused revenge from Zhau. He has someone stole the well known Sword of the Universe from Kuang and had faked an attempt assassination of the Emperor. Thinking that it was Kuang, the Emperor ordered the execution of the Kuang family. Kuang’s son escaped while his wife Yan Rong (Zhau’s daughter) returned to his father’s home. The Emperor seeing the beautiful Yan Rong and wanted to have her as a concubine but she hated his notorious style of ruling and his father’s treatment to teh Kuang family, she pretended to have gone made in order to escape the Emperor.
Mountain Folkcraft 