Jean Joseph Marie Carriès

This wonderfully expressive mask is by the French sculptor and ceramicist Jean Joseph Marie Carriès, who became celebrated for his remarkable portraits and grimacing heads which are inspired by Okina Masks or shikisanban used from the 15th century in traditional Japanese Noh plays. Another version of the Masque de rire was published by Patrice Bellanger in his exhibition dedicated to the sculptor, Jean-Joseph Carriès, exh. cat. Galerie Patrice Bellanger, Paris, pp. 83-84, no. 39. Arguably the sculptor's most famous work is his enchanting Sleeping Faun, of which there is a plaster version in the High Museum of Art, Atlanta (1885; inv. no. 1997.236).