Q: Taking a look at the posts concerning Guatemala on your website, I found the one from 13/01/2018 (“Repro of Patron mask from Guatemala”). Maybe you will find interesting this Patrón, a nicely carved example, not very old, dating probably from the mid-20th century and showing a nice patina on the back. Cedar hardwood. Dance Patzcar, mainly Nahualá and around (province of Sololá). Very similar to the one presented on “https://mexicandancemasks.com/?p=3895”.
For details and pics about the Patzcar family of dances, see “Masks of Guatemalan Traditional Dances, Brown and Rossilli, 2008, vol 1, pg251-276. As mention there, these dances are erroneously mixed up by some authors (including Pieper in his book “Guatemala’s Masks and Dramas”) with the Patzcáa dance performed in Rabinal, where there are the famous “goiter masks”. Jean, 1601
A: It’s a beautiful mask and your description is helpful. I want to add that this is an authentic artifact, whereas the one I posted last year was artificially aged for the market place. I hope some of our viewers will compare the two Patrons. A
