Fine and Rare Noh Mask by Nakamura Fuseki 1824 Edo Period

A painted wood mask for Noh theater signed by the artist Nakamura Fuseki and dated to 1824, of Edo period. The mask depicts the face of a Heita, which portrays a victorious Genji general in plays like Yashima and Ebira. It was finely carved with a precise but stylized anatomy. The facial hair, including the eyebrows and mustaches were meticulously painted with ink. The mask is a great combination of realism and surrealism with a stern and forceful expression that appears both eruptive and passive simultaneously. Not only the mask has been wonderfully preserved, it also retains a gilt Kanji inscription on the back that reads "Da Zheng Seventh Year April Made by Nakamura Fuseki". This dates the make of the mask to the year of 1824, the Bunsei era in the late Edo period. A mask with such great condition as well as signature and date is rather uncommon. Also there is a brocade bag accompany the mask which bears Kanji inscription (shown in the last photo).
For another similar mask that depicts Kijiru-Ayakashi by the same artist but made in 1810, see collection item No:11002000 in Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art in Japan.