From the Dayak people of the Kalimantan portion of Borneo, the mask is a classical style hudoq depicting a mythical boar, bird and dragon; the face painted in red, white and black, with attached ears, the lobes with remains of fiber cord that once held pendant ear decorations. It is 25 inches high and has never been used. It came from the Cobbs Auctioneers, a company that often comes up with high-quality masks that are not terribly expensive. Can someone explain why a mask of this quality would be antiqued on the front and not the rear?
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Angry old Japanese man
This is an authentic Noh theater mask. Though I can tell this character is an angry old man, I don’t know his name. Nor do I know the name of the play, or when it was made and by what carver. Real Noh masks are very well carved and usually have a lot of personality. When I saw this one I could not resist sharing it with my viewers. If you know more about it, please comment.
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Chinese Nuo mask from Hunan
Q: I don’t know a lot about the mask.. I’m a care giver and when I was first starting out about 8 years ago we had a lady that was there due to cancer.. she was a traveling artist and bought a mask from every place she traveled..when she past away our boss said she wanted everyone to choose a mask from her wall..for some reason this mask always caught my eye and when I saw no one was choosing it I knew i wanted it and was so happy it was still there..now I’m just wondering more about it. Melissa, 1546 A: Serious collectors of masks should skip this.…
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Old cowboy mask from Guatemala
MasksoftheWorld.com has been on the internet for a long time. As the Mask Man I look at several hundred Mystery Masks every year. Most of them are poorly made “tourist masks” and they always look old and used. I answer the emails but hardly ever post them for you to see. Fakes don’t interest me much. When I saw this beautiful Vaquero on Google I wanted to share it with you. This is what an authentic old-used (Guatemalan) mask should look like. Enlarge it and check out the details. It has been repainted several times and used frequently for many years.
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Nicaraguan carnival mask with protection
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…
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Red devil from Guatemala
Q: You already have one of these masks on your website, the male demon from Guatemala. This is what I am told the female looks like. My mom bought these around the same time I think in the late 50’s. Do you know if it is also from Guatemala? There are eye holes and a hole on the side. I included a side, front and rear picture. Pat, 1543 A: This is the second devil mask from Guatemala we received in two days. Both are of very good quality. This one has a beautiful pair of ram horns on it and is much more common. Most are made for sale…
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Green devil from Guatemala
Q: Did you ever see this mask? It is a rarely seen Guatemalan mask. It represents Alwasiir, the green devil in the Baile San Jorge in Rabinal and El Diablo. He is called Murcielago in the Baile La Princesa in Coban. Both dances tell the story of St Georges. This one is probably from mid to late XXth century. Jean, 1542 A: I have not seen it before– only green devils with horns from other areas in that small country. It is indeed rare and in new condition. I suppose the dark brown stain on the rear was applied to attract a wealthy tourist who prefers masks that are old…
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New protective mask
Occasionally I like to remind our visitors that we also include masks beyond the realm of ethnography. On the site we have a category called “Protection” in which you will find a broad assortment of masks used in many different occupations including sports. Please take a look. The bulletproof mask shown here is one of many new designs for the police and military. If you search the internet you can find a few old designs as well. To a mask collector bulletproof is now an interesting sub-category. You can find new ones retailing for as low as $100. A
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Decorative art– not masks
Q: I get questions (with three attached scans) almost every day. Most of the time these “mystery masks” are quickly made carvings for the tourist trade that have little artistic value and no ethnographic significance. Often they were from thrift shops. These three are of some value. A: The first one is from someplace in China where they have a group of master carvers who have been making these mask-like sculptures for many years. They are always highly detailed and sometimes have glass eyes. Second is a heavy ceramic wall-hanging from Mexico which resembles a pre-Columbian god. I think it is a handsome piece of decorative art. Unfortunately, the sellers…
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Another mystery mask
Q: I bought this mask at an estate sale about 10 years ago. The individual had about 50 masks in his collection, but with no real focus. Many were tourist pieces… a number from South and Central America. This one was tucked away in a corner… but had no identification. I like Japanese art and this struck me as perhaps an older Noh mask, but there was nothing the family new… or anything with the mask that would give me any indication of history. It is a light wood (almost like balsa) and you can see the grain. The painting detail is rather primitive. I’m good at searching online usually……
