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Maximón Mask

TITLE: Maximón Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Guatemala
SUBREGION: Solalá
ETHNICITY: Mayan
DESCRIPTION: Maximón (St. Simon) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAGT025
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Protection; Spirit Invocation
AGE: 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; glass marbles; glue

Maximón, a common Mayan pronunciation of St. Simón, is a complex and somewhat obscure figure. He seems to be the descendant of the pre-conquest Mayan god Mam, a sacred trickster whom the Catholic invaders associated with the Devil (as they did with nearly all local gods). He was worshiped in shrines as a protector of the village, but with the advent of Catholicism, the missionaries sought to convert the practice to saint worship, in this case worship of Simon the Zealot, reputedly a cousin of Jesus of Nazareth. Nonetheless, the image of Mam remains, as the Mayan descendants of Guatemala propitiate Maximón with offerings of liquor and cigarettes, along with the more traditional Catholic offerings of candles and flowers.  The shrine typically moves from house to house annually in any given village, although some villages have more than one shrine.

For more on Guatemalan masks, see Jim Pieper, Guatemala’s Masks and Drama(University of New Mexico Press, 2006).

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Archaero Mask

TITLE: Archareo Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Mexico State
ETHNICITY: Mestizo
DESCRIPTION: Archareo (Archer) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAMX049
MAKER: Daniel Nuñez (San Martín de las Pirámides, birth date unknown)
CEREMONY: Fiesta de San Martín
AGE: 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: felt; goat fur; paint; stitching

The Danza de los Archareos (Dance of the Archers), also called the Danza de los Alchilelos, Archileos, Alchareos, and other variants, is performed on the Feast Day of San Martín (April 13th) every year in the village of San Martín de las Pirámides. Similar dances are performed elsewhere in Mexico State and Guerrero.  It is a form of Christians and Moors dance, with the masked archers representing the evil Moors.  The Moors dance to flute and drum music in a group wearing brightly colored outfits.  The Christians similarly dance in a group, mostly unmasked (except for the leader, who has a mock horse and represents St. James the Apostle) and wearing elaborate capes and feathered hats. Eventually, the groups engage in mock battles with swords, which the Christians inevitably win.

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Ogoni Mask

TITLE: Ogoni Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Nigeria
ETHNICITY: Ogoni
DESCRIPTION: Articulated mask of a female spirit
CATALOG ID: AFNG009
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Adult Initiation; Secret Society
AGE: 1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin clay; plant fiber; natural pigment

The Ogoni people have managed to maintain much of their precolonial culture, including their masquerading traditions.  Masks are used by the Ogoni for many purposes. Some are reserved for members of secret societies having varying social ranks.  Others are mainly for entertainment. This mask has an articulated jaw to make the mask look like it is talking while being danced. It would be used in a ritual for initiation of girls into adulthood by a secret society.

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Carnival Fright Mask

TITLE: Carnival Fright Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Switzerland
SUBREGION: Lucerne
ETHNICITY: Swiss
DESCRIPTION: Schreckmaske (Fright Mask)
CATALOG ID: EUCH015
MAKER: Toni Meier, Kriens (1941- )
CEREMONY: Fasnacht (Carnival)
AGE: 2017
MAIN MATERIAL: linden wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; lacquer

Fasnacht is what the Swiss call Carnival.  In many towns in Switzerland, Austria, southern Germany, and northern Italy, local folk don elaborate masks and costumes to parade through the town.  Different Swiss towns have variations on the parade, such as Fasnacht of Basel, the Tschäggättä of Lötschental, or the Rabadan of Bellinzona.

Although traditional masked Carnival is no longer celebrated in most of Lucerne, in the town of Kriens, masquerade using masks called Muur or Hübeli still plays a role. Two types of masked are typically used in this region, satirical character masks which can represent either sex. Character masks come in many different types, such as the Wöschwyb (washerwoman) and Alter (old man). The other type are Schreckmasken (fright masks) representing scary men, known as the Krienser Deckel (Kriens head) and Buuremaa (farmer). This mask is a typical Kriens fright mask.

Unfortunately, the best book on Swiss masking traditions is available in German only: Albert Bärtsch, Holzmasken: Fasnachts- und Maskenbrauchtum in der Schweiz, in Süddeutschland und Österreich (AT Verlag 1993).

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Lunar New Year Mask

TITLE: Lunar New Year Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: China
SUBREGION: Hong Kong
ETHNICITY: Han
DESCRIPTION: Boy “Big Head” Mask
CATALOG ID: ASCN003
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Lunar New Year
FUNCTION: Celebration; Entertainment
AGE: 1950s
MAIN MATERIAL: paper maché
OTHER MATERIALS: gesso; paint; cotton straps

The Chinese celebrate the lunar new year with lion dances, parades, and fireworks throughout the country.  Normally, the celebration begins on new year’s eve and lasts 15 days, and it provides an opportunity for entertainment, family reunion, honoring ancestors, and planning for the coming year. In the parade, armies of “big-headed Buddhas” clad in traditional silk costumes (or their modern polyester equivalents) follow the lion dancers.  They cavort for the entertainment of the audience and to bring good fortune in the coming year. Among these masqueraders are old man and old woman characters, such as the one represented by this mask. In modern Hong Kong, this is the largest festival of the year, and includes floats and decorations throughout the city.

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Diablo Mask

TITLE: Diablo Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Peru
SUBREGION: Cuzco
ETHNICITY: Quechua and Aymara
DESCRIPTION: Diablo (Devil) Helmet Mask
CATALOG ID: LAPE030
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Carnival
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: paper maché; plaster
OTHER MATERIALS: wire mesh; paint

Carnival is the Catholic festival that precedes the fasting season of Lent, a period known as Shrovetide. In Peru, Carnival celebrations typically include parades of masked and costumed characters, marching or dancing to music, and street celebrations, often accompanied by water battles. Costumes portray a mix of Christian and indigenous themes with an emphasis on parody and parable. Common characters include devils, Spaniards, Moors, and angels.

While most modern Peruvian masks are made from tin, or increasingly fiberglass or plastic, this mask is made in the older style of paper maché coated with plaster.


Click above to watch a short documentary on Corpus Christi in Cusco, Peru.

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Tastoan Mask

TITLE: Tastoan Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Jalisco
ETHNICITY: Nahua
DESCRIPTION: Tastoan mask with leaf design
CATALOG ID: LAMX044
MAKER: Ubaldo Macías Bernabe, Tonalá (1972- )
CEREMONY: Fiesta de Santiago el Apostól
AGE: 2017
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: horse teeth; animal bone; acrylic paint; lacquer; glue paste; wire; thread; elastic bands; horse hair; woven plant fiber helmet

In parts of Jalisco and Zacatecas, the holiday in honor of Santiago el Apostól (St. James the Apostle) is held every 25th of July. Celebrants carry spears and dress in long pants, leather chaps, and boots, with demonic masks made of wood (Zacatecas) or molded leather (Jalisco) covered with a montera (headdress) of goat hair, horse hair, or plant fiber. The festival commemorates a battle between the indigenous warriors of the area and conquistadors. The appearance of the tastoanes, who represent indigenous warriors, conveys their ferocity through sharp teeth, large noses, and snakes, lizards, scorpions and spiders for decorations. This mask has images of the mythical creatures nahual and nahuala, half jaguar and half human, who symbolize the ferocity of the Tonaltecs. In some cases, the masks are dotted to convey the transmission of diseases such as smallpox and syphilis from the Spaniards to the indigenous peoples.

During the celebration, tastoanes and either three kings wearing ceramic masks or three Aztec priestesses (one representing the Tonaltec queen Tzapotzintli, also known as Tzuapili oor Cihualpilli) carry an image of St. James along a parade route and dance to music carrying swords or whips, after which they make defiant speeches and engage in a mock battle (jugada) with a participant carrying a whip who represents St. James.  At the end of the battle, all the tastoanes die and St. James is victorious. In the past, all tastoanes were male, but recently women have begun to participate as well.  In some towns, an organization such as a Cofradía de Santo Santiago (Fraternity of St. James) organizes the event.

This specific mask was made by the award-winning craftsman Ubaldo Macías of Tonalá.

Click above to watch a short documentary about the tastoanes of Tonalá, Mexico.

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Achachi Paxlo

TITLE: Achachi Paxlo
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Bolivia
SUBREGION: Oruro
ETHNICITY: Quechua and Aymara
DESCRIPTION: Achachi Paxlo Helmet Mask
CATALOG ID: LABO008
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Carnival (La Diablada)
AGE: 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: tin sheet
OTHER MATERIALS: brass; plastic; synthetic fiber; metal chain; paint; glitter; dyed ostrich feathers

The Morenada (Dance of the Moors) is an annual ceremony in several towns in the Altiplano region of Bolivia, Peru, and northern Chile, usually incorporated into Carnival.  The dance includes both male and female Moors dancing in a group with whips, rattles, or scepters. A King of the Moors (Rey de Morenos) presides and coordinates the dance. The dance typically occurs in the course of a parade, with marching bands playing musical scores for the dancers.  The precise origins of the Morenada are the subject of debate, with most specialists concluding that the dance was inspired by African slaves brought to Bolivia to work the mines or the subsequent integration of Africans into the Yungas community near La Paz.  The morena wears a fancy version of the traditional Bolivian costume with the classic bowler hat.

This mask represents an achachi, an old, bald man who previously worked as a captain or slave-driver under a colonial landowner.  The achachi may be represented as a black or white man (as here), but in either case he has a long, aquiline nose, bushy beard, cruel expression, and elaborate costume.  The pipe is a fixture in both achachi and moreno characters.

This specific mask was fashioned by a skilled mask-maker (caretero) in Oruro, probably around the early 1980s, from recycled tin sheeting.

For more on Bolivian masquerade, see Peter McFarren ed., Masks of the Bolivian Andes (La Paz: Editorial Quipus/Banco Mercantil SA, 1993).

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Javanese Hanuman

TITLE: Javanese Hanuman
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Indonesia
SUBREGION: Java
ETHNICITY: Javanese
DESCRIPTION: Hanuman Mask
CATALOG ID: ASID036
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Wayang Wong Dance Drama
AGE: ca. 1950s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

The Wayang Wong dance drama retells parts of the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These epics revolve around the god Rama and his battle with the demon king Ravana, who has abducted Rama’s wife, Sita. Rama is the avatar (earthly embodiment) of the supreme god Vishnu. In the end, Rama retrieves her with the help of the wily monkey god, Hanuman.

This specific mask represents the heroic Hanuman, who assists Rama by battling Ravana and his demonic minions.

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Mardi Gras Water Spirit

TITLE: Mardi Gras Water Spirit
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: United States of America
SUB-REGION: New Orleans, Louisiana
ETHNICITY: Mixed
DESCRIPTION: Leather water spirit mask
CATALOG ID: NAUS063
MAKER: Lawrence D. Wood (Crownsville, Maryland, 1950- )
CEREMONY: Mardi Gras
AGE: 2013
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: acrylic paint

In Catholic practice, Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”) is the last day of celebration of Carnival before the fasting period of Lent. In the United States, the holiday is nowhere more vigorously celebrated than in New Orleans, Louisiana. There, a two-week Carnival season terminating on Mardi Gras is celebrated with parades composed of elaborate costumes and masks, floats, marching bands, all organize by private “krewes” composed of public-spirited citizens dedicated to preserving the Mardi Gras tradition. Krewes tend to have a fairly constant structure of officers, who frequently ride horseback in handsome costumes and white draped masks, float riders who chuck “throws,” or small gifts such as plastic beaded necklaces, toys, or mementos (usually with the krewe’s name and insignia) into the cheering crowds, and a guest “king” and “queen” of the krewe.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans is also typically celebrated with formal balls held by the krewes in honor of the king and queen, and to celebrate the season.  Mask wearing among street celebrants is common as well. Traditionally, Mardi Gras masks are made of formed and painted leather, and can represent any character from real life or fantasy.  In modern practice, cheap masks mass manufactured of sequined cloth or paper maché covered in dyed feathers have become common.



Click above to watch a short documentary about Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2019 and 2020.

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