Q: I took photos of these (quickly because it wasn’t allowed!) masks in a tiny museum in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Amy, 1192
A: The character is Indrayani, one of eight dancers in a performance of Bhairabs, the oldest and most famous drama in the Kathmandu Valley. Bhaktapur is where it started. In the nearby big city of Kathmandu you can buy lots of papier mache masks, but they won’t look anything like this one. I would guess it was made about 75 years ago. Please enlarge this hi-res scan so you can see the details. I don’t think this high quality work is done anymore. Amy– thanks for taking the risk!
Here is one of the other characters from the Bhairabs dance that Amy photographed.
