Q: I’m from France. I’ve been passionate about masks since I was 10 years old. I found this Russian mask at a Christmas stand and I would like to know about it’s meaning and story. Lola A: Now that you know what it is, go to Google and learn more about your beautiful Italian mask.
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7 masks from the Kuchipudi theater in India
Q: We found these seven masks near the city of Barcelona and the price we paid was about € 2700. We were told they belonged to a collector and were worth much more. Laia, 1263 A: I like these masks very much so I decided to share the group photo with our viewers. However I have little access to material on Indian masks. I’m going to guess they represent some of the many Hindu gods that are characters in the Kuchipudi theater. They would be from the state of Andhra Pradesh. It sure would be nice to know if I’m correct.
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Old Noh theater mask
Q: I have and old Japanese mask but know nothing about it. Thanks! Oliver, 1262 A: I assume it is an old temple mask– something a monk has made for sale to faithful visitors to the temple. Or it could be an old man for a Noh play. I asked Oliver to send me some higher res scans and will post them when they come. Then I can make a few more comments.
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Iroquois false face mask
Q: I’m 22 years old. I have been fascinated with masks all my life. Decided to study art oriented towards sculpture to make my own designs so for the last year I’ve been working with masks in parallel with the university. I’ve worked with papier mache and latex, made some replicas and some personal designs. I also collect masks. You wanted some more shots of my False Face piece, so here they are. what can you tell me about it? Tomas, 1261 A: The False Faces are masks carved from the living trunk of a tree. These masks represent the strange, wild beings who inhabit the forests and rarely, only…
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Argentinian gas mask
I think we may have posted another gas mask under the category of protection. This one is from Argentinia and is probably old and used. These kind of things are quite collectable. If you Google “gas mask/images” you will see many different types. Of course, only weird collectors like myself would ever hang them on the walls of a house. Bob
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Inexpensive West African mask
Q: I found this mask at an antique shop a few years ago. Think I paid around $15. It is 10” long and 7” wide. I would like to find out more about it and hope you can help me. Thanks in advance! Renske, 1259 A: That’s a wonderful mask for $15. People will pay hundreds for a careful reproduction and thousands for an authentic mask. Why not this one? Though it looks West Africa, it is a mixture of many different tribes. All I can tell for sure is that is was artificially aged. I am not an expert on African masks. If you see a mask you like…
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Black old man from Mongolia
Q: I recently bought a lot of various masks. About 30 of them, most are probably made for tourists. Bought them from a lady who was moving out of the country (I’m from Argentina), so most of these are quite hard to find here. This one caught my eye. It’s clearly old, and it seems to fit the style of the Indonesian masks. The paint is naturally chipping, a big part of the horse hair it had is missing, and its made out of papier mache with some burlap backing it up. I’m in love with this piece simply because of its piercing, intimidating gaze, and for how old it…
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Old Man mask of Japanese Noh theater
Q: I have an old wooden Japanese mask and would like it identified and dated. Can you help? I have not found another in my research on Google. Ian, 1257 A: Many of the Noh plays feature one or more old men in the cast. Identifying your particular old man will be difficult. I think it is from the the first half of the 20th century. The quality of the carving suggests it sold for a lower price. Perhaps you can find someone fluent in Japanese to translate that old label. What the label says might raise or lower the value a little. A-
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Old, wood Green Man mask
Q: I purchased this mask in an antique store in the UK for £85, it was labelled as an ‘ancient green man mask’– but I’m not sure if this is right. It is 34cm tall, 24cm at its widest and about 13cm deep. It seems like it is pretty old. I’m not sure if the red inserts in the eyes are original. It looks like the holes may have been filled in at some point. Any help identifying this mask would be great! Chris, 1256 A: Every thing you say is true. It could even be truly old with an interesting back story. And it sure would make a nice…
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Egyptian burial mask
The Artemis Gallery auctions are having a sale which will follow a chronological timeline that begins with Ancient Egypt and progresses through Greek, Roman and other Old World cultures. Here is a Romano-Egyptian plaster mummy mask of a young man, circa 30 BCE to 2nd century CE. Its hauntingly lifelike facial features, curly beard and straight hair are skillfully painted, with a palette of harmonious tones adding a natural look to the skin. Pretty nice looking for something that’s over 2000 years old. http://www.artemisgallery.com/
