For those of you from countries where baseball is not played, this is a catcher’s mask. It protects the player’s face from a missed, fast-moving hardball. It is a true mask– not a tourist’s souvenir.
I love protective masks for their beauty. As Louis Sullivan said, form follows function. Please check out the category called “Protection” to see others. They are all excellent designs. There are many others from different occupations and sports. Most of them can look great on the wall or a stand.
You might want to consider getting a beautiful book called Masks by Nunley & McCarty. It contains ethnographic masks from all over the world, plus a section on protective types. Of course, there’s also a more comprehensive, but not so pretty book called Masks of the World, by Ibold & Yohn. 1210
