Q: I have a large mask from up-country in the Ivory Coast. I believe this is the original article and not a tourist “knock off.” I’m looking for more information as to origins and price. Can I send you a pic? (later) More pictures, at last, Bob. Sorry still not one of the back. The mask is languishing in Vietnam with friends who are about to move back to the states. If you know anyone who wants to rescue it let me know. David, 1104 A: I think this is a tourist mask from Africa or Asia. Most of the masks in thrift shops or the Internet fall into this…
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Masquerade in Switzerland and Germany
I would like to send to you a few pics about an event which takes place in my home town roughly every 10 years. It is a regional meeting of masks coming from the German parts of Switzerland and from southern Germany. It was great, there were some 60 groups, most of them with real, carved wooden masks. I think that the event proves that masking culture is well alive here north of the Alps. By the way, the photo with that mask wearing a black-red-white hat and cloth is a very well-known figure around here, the so-called “Blätz”, which means simply “an old piece of tissue”. This, because in…
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Indian mask from SE Brazil
Q: I’m looking for a mask from the Xingu River region. I’m not sure what I’m looking for specifically, but I would love to see what there is! Leah, 1102 A: There are many Indian cultures in the huge Amazon region of Brazil. Though I can’t find anything from the Xingu River area, this excellent Karajas piece come from the Araguaia River area in the Matto Grosso lowlands just to the west of the Xingu. It is a tall and elaborately decorated ijasó headdress with grass mask and skirt. They are always made in pairs, and represent spirits called by shamans to visit the Karajás’ villages. Maybe someone who reads…
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Tago mask from PNG
Q: Came across your site trying to identify a mask. It was given to my dad a long time ago by a friend who liked to travel, but he can’t remember where it’s from or anything else about it. Was hoping you could help. It’s about 17″ tall and 10″ wide. A: Tago masks represent the ghosts of important ancestors. Every ten to twelve years, a year-long series of ceremonies remind each clan of its ancestral connections, with two major performances celebrating the arrival and departure of the ghosts. When men wear the tago mask, a taboo is placed on all coconuts for one year and there must be…
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Pretty cool Guatemalan mask
Q: I have 2 mystery masks. Here is the first one. Paid $18 for a antique extravaganza. Could it be from Guatemala? Mexico? It’s pretty cool. Gena, 1100 A: I picked this one to post. Indeed it is a cool mask. Even though a cheaply made commercial product, it looks so Guatemalan. You know instantly it could come from nowhere other than the mountains of Central America. Of course, most serious collectors don’t want “tourist junk” on their walls. Perhaps some collectors would be revolted by this guy (especially anthropologists), but I think the mask is a keeper! C Save Save
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Himalayan skull masks
I was just looking at this entertaining skull mask. Skulls are a subject for masquerade in cultures all over the world. This one is obviously from the Himalayan region. You can always recognize this because of the way the nose, cheek bones and many teeth are sculpted. It is made of papier mache which is light-weight and cheap. Most of the skull masks made for use in dance or ceremony nowadays utilize that material. However, this particular one was antiqued for sale to the tourist trade. I’m also posting two other skull masks from page 38 of my book, Masks of the World, that were carefully carved out of wood. …
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Hard to identify Mexican mask
Q: Here is one of my latest Mexican mask acquisitions… appears to be turn-of-the-century. Do you agree? There is considerable aging… in fact I think I may have fell in love with the aging rings of the wood more than anything. Idea on character? I cant discern if its a hat he is wearing or poking fun at oversized eyebrows to be honest. I also find the two holes at the top of the mask interesting… I wonder what would have once been mounted there. Similarly, it looks like there are square pegs on top to bottom of the mask… again, not sure how that might have been used. Mask measures…
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Recent Amazon Indian masks and costumes
Q: Here are some photos of masquerade of the Cocama people in Santo Tomas, Peru. The pics are in the National Geographic that arrived yesterday, so they are recent. Hans, 1097 A: I love seeing examples of masks that demonstrate how folk art continues to evolve. I don’t believe that the Cocama people would have made masks and costumes like these 50 years ago. You can read more about this in the January 2017 issue of Nat Geo.
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Another Payaso from the mountains of Ecuador
Q: I wanted to see if you had any info on this mask. Joe, 1096 A: This is all that Joe told me, but his three photos were helpful and I recognized the mask immediately. It is a Payaso (clown) from the Indians of Ecuador. There is a different one shown on our blog archive (category “South America”) that was posted Nov 15, 2016. Please look it up so you can compare the two, and learn more about how them. This one is crudely made and appears to have been used. The one in the archives is new and more carefully carved and painted. A- Save
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Interesting Indian portrait
Q: I purchased this mask in Creel, Mexico in 1989. The unusual thing about this mask is that while the Tarahumarans have always carved masks, I was told it was not common for them to create masks that depicted themselves. The other masks in the shop were all of white men. It is dated and signed. Robin, 1095 A: (Later this was written to Robin.) I forwarded your photograph to a former ASM Curator, Tom Kolaz, who has studied and written about Tarahumara masks for decades. He says the mask was made by Irmo Armendariz who used to live near Roseachic, Chihuahua. He is not Tarahumara but the area had…
