Help with mask

[jtw1313]

Can anyone help with information on this mask? Very light wood

 

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[CreakyDigger]

100% guaranteed it will not keep out Covid19. Cool mask tho. Paper mache? Oh, light wood, sorry.

 

[Lenrac2]

So refreshing to see a mask issue not about covid! Cool mask!!

 

[Retired Sarge]

I think I've seen that face a few times when I was a young GI stumbling back to the dorms after a few too many drinks......Just saying!

 

[invent4hir]

Mardi gras mask

 

[BAW]

It appears to be the type of mask made for decoration by the Maya Indians of Guatemala. They are modeled after the masks used by the Maya in their own ceremonies, but are more colorful and exotic-looking than the ones they make for their own use. You can find similar examples by doing an internet search for "Guatemalan mask".

 

[crashbandicoot]

I can second ffuries sentiment!!!!Very nice find there.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

It looks like a devil mask they would wear at Mardi Gras or The Fiesta De Carnaval

 

[invent4hir]

Is the creature at the top of the first picture an octopus?

 

[jtw1313]

It is a snake I believe

 

[invent4hir]

It is a snake I believe

I thought it was a cobra at first, then began to wonder after seeing the black spots on the "tail" and w/ a tentacle(?) extending down over each ear.

 

[Mud Hut]

Might scare the Covid virus away!

 

[Retired Sarge]

So many countries have masks, Asia, North, Central and South America, Europe etc. One would need to nail down images on the mask, maybe determine the type of wood, etc to help nail down a region.

 

[invent4hir]

So many countries have masks, Asia, North, Central and South America, Europe etc. One would need to nail down images on the mask, maybe determine the type of wood, etc to help nail down a region.

ffuries, well said!

 

[Red-Coat]

So many countries have masks, Asia, North, Central and South America, Europe etc. One would need to nail down images on the mask, maybe determine the type of wood, etc to help nail down a region.

Agree!

This only a guess.

I didn’t recognise it as anything from Africa. I could believe parts of Asia, and certainly Indonesia but didn’t recognise it as anything traditional. What I thought at first might be an elephantine trunk is, I’m pretty sure, meant to be snake-like and I talked myself into believing those black decorations at the very end resemble the rattle of a rattkesnake. If that’s the case, it could only be from the Americas since rattlesnakes aren’t native to anywhere else. I believe it may be a Mexican dance/carnival mask.

Dance/carnival masks can have such a diverse set of possibilities that you may never find an exact match but in Mexico one popular character is “El Feo” (the “ugly one”). The feos acted as 'jesters' within the dance group to provide comic relief for the audience and wore hideous masks, sometimes with an absurdly elongated nose like this:



Sometimes the phallic nose is represented as a snake, like this one which has eyes and mouth at the end:



The pictures are from Bryan Stevens on the ‘mexicandancemasks.com’ website and are of masks from Paso Ancho in Mexico.

 

[Retired Sarge]

Agree!

This only a guess.

I didn’t recognise it as anything from Africa. I could believe parts of Asia, and certainly Indonesia but didn’t recognise it as anything traditional. What I thought at first might be an elephantine trunk is, I’m pretty sure, meant to be snake-like and I talked myself into believing those black decorations at the very end resemble the rattle of a rattkesnake. If that’s the case, it could only be from the Americas since rattlesnakes aren’t native to anywhere else. I believe it may be a Mexican dance/carnival mask.

Dance/carnival masks can have such a diverse set of possibilities that you may never find an exact match but in Mexico one popular character is “El Feo” (the “ugly one”). The feos acted as 'jesters' within the dance group to provide comic relief for the audience and wore hideous masks, sometimes with an absurdly elongated nose like this:

View attachment 1946046

Sometimes the phallic nose is represented as a snake, like this one which has eyes and mouth at the end:

View attachment 1946047

The pictures are from Bryan Stevens on the ‘mexicandancemasks.com’ website and are of masks from Paso Ancho in Mexico.

I thought India and elephant also, but with the way the elephant is revered in images in India, I couldn't see them depicting it in a "Grotesque or Picasso" style.

 

[Retired Sarge]

I also considered a German Fasching mask or Native American False Face mask, but couldn't find any matches. Heck I even considered a vintage US Halloween mask.....

Like RedCoat said, there are infinite possibilities in designs for a mask. Finding the exact match, might be darn near impossible, as sometimes these masks were unique in design making them one of a kind.