Q: I just found this one and have no idea where it’s from. It may be a Latin American carnival mask. If you find a moment please look at my mask collection. I have included a URL to it. I have collected mask for a number of years and have come across several unique ones. I do however find good “tourist” masks and keep them in the collection for their uniqueness and color. Any comments would be appreciated. Vincent, 1544
A: Your thinking in the right direction. Carnival masks from Nicaragua can vary a lot, but most of them are made of firm papier mache and the eye holes are protected with metal screen. I don’t see the eye protection in other Latin American and Caribbean cultures.
You can see five Nicaraguan masks on page 151 of Masks of the World by Ibold and Yohn. Three of the five have the eye protection. Are these people extra careful, or are their carnivals uncontrollably exuberant?
I looked at Vicent’s website. His collection is very colorful. Here is the URL… sites.google.com/view/vincentspione/mask-collection.
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