Goto Noh Menuki

Solid Gold Menuki – Sanbansō Noh Motif
Tokubetsu Hozon, NBTHK

This exceptional pair of solid gold menuki depicts Sanbansō (三番叟)—a motif drawn from classical Noh theater, celebrated for its auspicious associations with longevity, good fortune, and communal harmony. Sanbansō, traditionally performed at the start of a celebratory program, occupies a unique place within the Noh canon as both ritual and performance—bridging Shinto and theatrical traditions with a dance that blesses the stage and its audience.

The figures are animated with remarkable vitality: layered robes rendered in rich relief, fan and mask delineated with refined precision, and a rhythmic balance in the modeling that speaks to the hand of an accomplished artisan. The use of kinmukō (solid gold) for such a subject enhances its symbolic function, evoking wealth not only materially but spiritually—a luminous invocation of renewal and prosperity.

Endorsed by the NBTHK with a Hozon attribution, these menuki reflect the intersection of decorative metalwork and classical performance, encapsulating the sophisticated taste of the Edo-period elite. Their preservation, both formal and conceptual, offers a rare window into the cultural vocabulary of celebration as it was expressed through tosogu.