The above mask is a female Catrin from the state of Tlaxcala Mexico is a country with many different masquerade traditions (usually called dances), and each of them features a number of different characters. Also important– these traditions are still being practiced so that many different Mexican masks are available to collectors. Because of this abundance you have the choice of various themes for your collection: types of characters, geography, ethnicity, construction material and so forth.  The following ten masks represent different types of characters used in the dances. More good news for people interested in building a collection: almost all antiques including Mexican masks are very low in price…

Q:  I am enclosing front and back photos of the masks.  I bought them from a trader/trapper friend in Noel, Missouri. I believe he had traded for or purchased them out west somewhere. We have had them hanging on our log cabin interior wall for about 25-30 years.  I am now downsizing/moving and am not planning to keep them.  Carol, 886 A:  You have a nice group of Mexican masks, some of which are decorative and others are real and actually used. So I’ll show our readers your skull mask which I like particularly. Tons of skull masks are made for the many Day of the Dead celebrations and for…

Q:  This mask is from my grandmothers collection. They think it’s from possibly Aztec or Mayan era. I have researched it have come up with nothing. Please let me know what you think.  Brandon, 879 A:  From the Pre-Columbian era of Latin America, this little head is not a mask, but served some other purpose.

Q:  I just lost an auction for an awesome female Catrine mask.  Here’s a photo of it; the eyelids do not close.  With commission, it sold for $1400.  I had bid $1100 and lost, and I’m very disappointed, as you can imagine.  I really wanted that mask.  Aaron, 869 A:  You have my sympathy. 

Q:  I just found your website. This mask is 19 and a half inches tall by 11 inches wide.  I found it in a dumpster while cleaning out an apartment building full of trash in San Pedro, California. The outside kind of looks like silver if I rub it.  The chin holder on the inside is a softer pliable material more like lead. Notice the animal looking earrings. I hang it over my toilet. Thank you for your time.  Jeremy, 860 A:  This is a popular tourist mask made by a small shop of craftsmen working in Iquala, Guerrero, as early as the 1970’s.

Q:  Just bought this leather mask and wanted to get your opinion as to it’s origin. It measures 9″ at widest and 10″ top to bottom with horse hair whiskers. Could this be from Chiapas?  Thanks, Lois, 858 A:  The Tzotzil people, who live in the center of Chiapas and are of Mayan descent, frequently make masks out of leather. But this one is different in design.

Q: Looking through your older posts, I saw an unknown mask (Nov. 2013) which resembles one I have. Mine has a bird on the front. Very light wood. Bought with another one at a flea market. It has a tag inside which has the following: S. Pedro Teozacoalco. dist. Zaaohila. Mexico. It also has the following (which I translated using google translations): “The godmother of the bride (or groom) mask. Used during the blessing ceremony.” Any thoughts on its age, or what the inscription S. Pedro Teozacoalco means? Mickey, 855 A: I asked Bryan Stevens, the most knowledgeable collector of Mexican masks I know, about this.

Q: This mask weighs only five ounces. It is around 10-11″ tall and 7″ across the forehead. I acquired it from a long time antique collector/hoarder in Central Alabama. Any assistance you could provide in identification would be most helpful. Kathy, 844 A: From somewhere in Mexico, this strange little guy is quite a character. Unfortunately, it has never been painted. Mexicans like to finish their masks with bright colors. However, they occasionally leave them unpainted for the tourist trade.

Q: Any idea what part of Mexico this Diablo comes from? I got if off eBay where I was told it had been collected in the 1960s or earlier and had been in a collection in Holland ever since. It’s made of hard wood with boar tusks for teeth. Mark, 841 A: Almost anyone will get a kick out of this oddly shaped Devil mask from Mexico. Certainly I do! But exactly where in Mexico was it made and what is it for. To the latter you could say a dance that characterizes Satan. But this delightful character could have been made strictly to sell to tourist and collectors.

Q: Do you agree that this is a Mexican, rather than Guatemalan mask? Nate, 840 A: Of course, there are some masks from nearby Guatemala of similar design, but this design is so typical of many areas in Mexico. It portrays a light-skinned man with black eyebrows and mustache. The holes for seeing and attaching strings, plus the facial characteristics, are also typical.