KAGE
Discover your mask

KAGE

A house of Japanese masks. Each one is carved to be worn once, in the dark, by whoever needs another face.

The collectionDiscover your mask
A white kitsune fox mask with gold whisker lines and indigo ears I · Kitsune

The face that listens.

The fox hears what is said when you leave the room. Wear it when you would rather learn than speak.

A black lacquer tengu mask with a long nose and gold brows II · Tengu

The face that will not bow.

Black lacquer, gold brows, and a pride no one has talked it out of in four hundred years.

A pale, serene Noh ko-omote mask III · Ko-omote

The face that gives nothing away.

Tilt it down and it grieves. Tilt it up and it smiles. The carving never changes. You do.

A blackened iron samurai menpo mask with gold teeth and indigo lacing IV · Menpo

The face that stands its ground.

Iron for the jaw, silk for the throat. Made for the moment after you have decided.

Origins · Muromachi, 1392

Born of a play about jealousy.

The hannya was carved for the Noh stage: a woman so consumed that horns broke through. Seen from above it rages. Seen from below it weeps. We have kept both.

632
years of the form
2
faces in one carving
0
words spoken
Craftsmanship · Ninety days a face

One block. No second try.

Each mask starts as a single piece of hinoki cypress, seasoned ten years. Nothing is glued on, so nothing can be put back.

  1. Rough the blockForty chisels, largest first. The horns are found, not added.
  2. Hollow the backThin enough to breathe in, thick enough to keep its temper.
  3. Lay the gofunTwelve coats of crushed shell, each sanded with horsetail reed.
  4. Leaf the goldEyes, teeth and horn tips. Then indigo, with a brush of three hairs.
The Collection · Five faces, made to order

Choose who you are tonight.

Five masks, each carved once a season. The hannya beside you is the house piece. The others wait below.

KitsuneFox · bone and indigo TenguPride · black urushi Ko-omoteStillness · ivory gofun MenpoResolve · blackened iron
Discover your mask

What will you keep hidden?

Answer honestly. The mask chooses the wearer as much as the other way round.

Hannya The house piece. For a feeling too large for your own face. Bone lacquer, gold horns. Commission the Hannya