Noh mask, "zo onna" signed by tashibana yoshitaka saku

this mask has the cartouche of tashibana yoshitaka It bears the cartouche on the back of the sculptor Tashibana Yoshitaka saku ,(or Houidaka) a recognized artist of the late 19 th early 20 th thus Taisho era. The mask comes with its box (where it says petit visage) and its fabric envelope. Tashibana Yoshitaka Little is known about his life He was considered a living national treasure and exhibited at the Fukuoka Museum Often considered an artist of the Edo period, 18em like the hannya mask exhibited in 3 successive museums confirming this date, published in the book Cedric le dauphin les noh masks de la collection the bernard le dauphin collection 2020 p 68,69,70 Stephen Marvin, author of heaven has a face so does hell, the Noh mask bible, comments on this sculptor in a series of e-mail exchanges: The only mention of Houhikidaka in English is in my book on pages 354 - 355. I have found very little about him in Japanese. The only published work in Japan with information about him is an exhibition catalog produced by the Fukuoka Municipal Museum, which shows a Kyougen mask with his cartouche. The brief text accompanying the photograph states he lived in Kyoto and was a contemporary of the modern mask carver Nakamura Naohiko (born 1877, died 1945). Based on this information, Houhidaka would have been active as a mask carver during the late 19th century or early 20th century (Meiji - Showa periods).