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Carnival Half-Mask

TITLE: Carnival Half-Mask
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Italy
SUBREGION: Venice
ETHNICITY: Italian
DESCRIPTION: Carnival Half-Mask
MAKER: Marilisa Dal Cason, Cogollo del Cengio (1960- )
CEREMONY: Carnival; Masked Balls
AGE: 2011
MAIN MATERIAL: paper maché; cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: sequins; ribbons

The Venetian Carnival has long been famed for its elaborate period costumes and elegant masks.  Mask-makers cluster in Venice to service the event, masked balls, and a lively tourist market.  Masks such as this one, both elegant and decorative, are popular during the Venetian Carnival. Half-masks are favored by women because of their practical advantages.  They provided privacy and shielded the most exposed part of the face from the damaging sun in an era where pale skin was a mark of beauty and aristocracy.  Moreover, they offer no impediment to eating, drinking or speaking.  The popularity of such masks soon spread throughout Europe, as evidenced by the painting of the French artist Joseph-Désiré Court in the mid-nineteenth century, depicting a coquette unmasking herself.

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Ded Moroz

TITLE: Ded Moroz
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Russia
SUBREGION: Unknown
ETHNICITY: Russian
DESCRIPTION: Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) Mask
MAKER: Unknown maker
CEREMONY: Novy God (New Year’s Holiday)
AGE: ca. 1950s
MAIN MATERIAL: paper maché
OTHER MATERIALS: primer; paint; lacquer; string

The character Ded Moroz, or Grandfather Frost, is a traditional Slavic version of Santa Claus, who delivers gifts to good children on New Year’s Eve, as opposed to Christmas. He was accompanied by Snegurochka (Snow Maiden), his granddaughter and helper, and is believed to live in the small western Russian town of Veliky Ustyug. He wears long, silver and blue robes and a red furred cap or snowflake crown, carries a magic staff, and sometimes rides a snow sled pulled by horses (troika). The character is believed to predate Christianity and originate in a Slavic winter wizard born of Slavic pagan gods.

The Soviet Union strongly discouraged depictions of Ded Moroz as bourgeois and religious, but remained popular nonetheless as the symbol of New Year’s Holiday, which replaced the forbidden Christmas. In fact, the Dynamo Regional Council, a Soviet fitness and sports promotion organization, organized the production and sale of many kinds of New Year’s mask in many towns, including Leningrad, Rzhev, Vyshny Vokochok, Saratov, and Yaroslavl. Witches, animals, doctors, and even masks representing the Devil were sold.

The masks were probably designed by the artist S.M. Nyuhin, but little is known about the specific craftswomen who made them. They were shaped from mashed paper on gypsum molds; dried with electric heaters; cut and pierced; primed with oil, chalk and glue; and painted and lacquered.

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Sardinian Boe

TITLE: Sardinian Boe
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Italy
SUBREGION: Ottana, Sardinia
ETHNICITY: Italian (Sardinian)
DESCRIPTION: Boe (Ox) Mask
MAKER: Mario Cossu (Ottana, 1941- )
CEREMONY: Carnival; Festa di Sant’Antonio Abate
AGE: 2010
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint, leather cords

During the Festival of Sant’Antonio Abate, patron saint of the city of Ottana, Sardinia, and on Carnival as well, the Ottanese does as sos boes and sos merdules, two traditional masked characters.  In the Festival of Sant’Antonio, they appear at night before a raging bonfire (s’ogulone) to perform religious duties and begin the Carnival celebration, during which they will parade and enact an ancient drama.  The boes wear furry white sheep skins and ox masks like this one, along with very heavy cowbells (sonazzos) on a leather harness.  The merdules wear deformed white or black masks, representing the fatigue of the peasant oxherder, and a stick or rope whip. During the ceremony, the merdules will attempt to herd the boes, who resist and throw themselves on the ground until forced up again.  Eventually, a third character appears as a witch-like woman (sa filonzana) spinning raw wool, possibly representing the Greek Fate Clotho, who spun the thread of human life and decided where to cut it.

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Chrottni Carnival Mask

TITLE: Flums Carnival Mask
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Switzerland
SUBREGION: Flums
ETHNICITY: Swiss
DESCRIPTION: Chrottni Mask
MAKER: Margrit Stoop, Flums (1926-?)
CEREMONY: Fasnacht (carnival)
AGE: 1974
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; dyed burlap

Fasnacht is what the Swiss call Carnival.  In many towns in Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy, local folk don elaborate masks and costumes to parade through the town.  Different towns have variations on the parade, such as the Schemenlaufen of Imst, the Schellerlaufen of Nassereith, and the Muller and Matschgerer of Innsbruck, Austria.  In Flums, carnival masks have a distinctive pear shape and tend to have a satirical purpose. The Flums style has been highly influential in neighboring villages.

This mask is a character known in the local dialect as Chrottni, a masculine looking woman who has been suggested to represent a hermaphrodite.  The name probably derives from the word Kröte, a toad.  Local legend has it that Chrottni lampoons a postman’s wife, who always knew everyone’s business before they themselves did, because she secretly opened the mail.  The type was developed around 1840, and different carvers in Flums give it variants on its expression.  Among the five most common expressions, this one is said to represent a Mona Lisa-type smile.

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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Austrian Perchtenmaske

TITLE: Austrian Perchtenmaske
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Austria
ETHNICITY: Tyrolean
DESCRIPTION: Perchtenmaske (Krampus Mask)
MAKER: Markus Lanzl (Graz, 1977- )
CEREMONY: Perchtenlauf
AGE: 2006
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: pigment; goat horns; goat fur

Perchtenlauf is a Tyrolean winter festival equivalent to the old Norse Yule.  In many parts of Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy, in mid-December the town organizes a parade of Perchten, or demons who represent evil spirits (known in Germany as Krampus).  The Perchten wear frightening horned masks with sharp teeth and long, lolling tongues, typically in a suit of goat skin with loud cowbells attached to their belt.  Their function is to accompanying St. Nicholas, who reward good children with treats and presents, while the Perchten punish bad children by beating them with birch switches or throwing them into wicker baskets on their backs to carry down to Hell for punishment.

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Commedia dell’Arte Arlecchino

TITLE: Commedia dell’Arte Arlecchino
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Italy
ETHNICITY: Italian
DESCRIPTION: Arlecchino (Harlequin) Mask
MAKER: Graziano “Safir” Viale (Lonigo [Vicenza], 1959- )
CEREMONY: Commedia dell’Arte; Carnival
AGE: 2013
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; hardware

The Commedia dell’Arte was a form of public entertainment that succeeded the classical Roman theater in Italy.  Like classical theater, Commedia performers wore leather masks to represent stock characters and often performed in amphitheaters to large audiences.  However, the Commedia differed in having only a very basic plot sketch, with most of the lines invented extemporaneously by the actors.  The Commedia‘s ability to stay topical and its frequent resort to vulgar humor, combined with the considerable talent of Italian troupes that traveled throughout Europe, made this form of theater extremely popular throughout the early 17th to late 19th centuries. Masked actors had to compensate for their inability to convey facial emotion through posture, gesture, and vocal nuance.

Arlecchino, known in English as Harlequin, was long a popular stock character of the Commedia. His always wears a black half mask with quizzically arched eyebrows and a wrinkled forehead.  Originally, his costume was a peasant’s shirt and long trousers, both covered with patches to indicate poverty.  It later developed into a stylized, tight-fitting suit decorated with colorful triangles and diamond shapes.  Arlecchino also began carrying a batte, or slapstick, at some point.  The character represents a witty and capricious gentleman’s valet, amorous of the serving maids and sometimes clownishly credulous.

To learn more about Commedia dell’Arte, see Pierre Louis Duchartre, The Italian Comedy (Dover Pubs., 1966).

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Old Man Mask

TITLE: Old Man Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Moldova
ETHNICITY: Romanian-Moldovan
DESCRIPTION: Bătrânească (Old Man) Mask
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Mastile; Carnival
FUNCTION: Agriculture; Celebration; Hunting; Protection/Purification
AGE: 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: sheep’s wool; cow horns; paint; hardware

In Romanian and Moldovan folk traditions, many kinds of masks are used at planting time and during the celebrations of Lent prior to Christmas, and during Carnival.  Some are used for caroling, while others originate in pre-Christian rituals of appeasing the gods for a rainy spring, bountiful harvest, or successful hunt.  Only men may wear such masks.  This mask represents an old man (Bătrânească) and is a popular Carnival character.

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Commedia dell’Arte Plague Doctor

TITLE: Commedia Plague Doctor
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Italy
ETHNICITY: Italian
DESCRIPTION: Plague Doctor Mask
MAKER: Lara Milanova (London, England, 1971- )
CEREMONY: Commedia dell’Arte; Carnival
AGE: 2011
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: glass lenses; acrylic paint; brass buckles; brass O-rings

The Commedia dell’Arte was a form of public entertainment that succeeded the classical Roman theater in Italy.  Like classical theater, Commedia performers wore leather masks to represent stock characters and often performed in amphitheaters to large audiences.  However, the Commedia differed in having only a very basic plot sketch, with most of the lines invented extemporaneously by the actors.  The Commedia‘s ability to stay topical and its frequent resort to vulgar humor, combined with the considerable talent of Italian troupes that traveled throughout Europe, made this form of theater extremely popular throughout the early 17th to late 19th centuries. Masked actors had to compensate for their inability to convey facial emotion through posture, gesture, and vocal nuance.

During the period of the Black Death in Europe, doctors visited plague victims to verify whether they have been afflicted and to offer treatment.  Their outfit consisted of a wide brimmed hat to show that the man was a doctor, leather gloves and boots, a body-length linen gown covered in wax, and beaked mask with glass lenses to protect the face.  The beak was stuffed with spices to “purify” the air that the doctor breathed, because it was widely and erroneously believed that the plague was spread through the air.

To learn more about Commedia dell’Arte, see Pierre Louis Duchartre, The Italian Comedy (Dover Pubs., 1966).

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Paper Carnival Mask

TITLE: Paper Carnival Mask
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Germany
SUBREGION: N/A
ETHNICITY: German
DESCRIPTION: Character Mask
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Carnival
AGE: ca. 1930s
MAIN MATERIAL: kraft paper
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

During the 1920s and 1930s in Europe, sluggish economies created demand for inexpensive versions of traditional Carnival masks that had previously been made from wood or thick paper maché. Enterprising companies began making disposable masks from cheaper kraft paper, hand painted by the abundant labor available due to high unemployment. This mask originates in Germany and represents a young man.

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Fasnet Teufel Mask

TITLE: Fasnet Teufel Mask
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Germany
SUBREGION: Baden-Württemberg
ETHNICITY: Swabian (German)
DESCRIPTION: Teufel (Devil) Mask
MAKER: Uwe Thaler, Altensteig
CEREMONY: Fasnet (Carnival)
AGE: 2006
MAIN MATERIAL: cedar wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; lacquer; goat leather and fur; fox tail; LED lights and hardware

In many parts of Swabia and Bavaria, Carnival (usually called Fasnet or Fastnet in this region of Germany) is celebrated with parades of witches, devils, and clowns.  The devil parades are organized by guilds, all members of which wear similar costumes and masks.  Each town has its own guilds. Their purpose is to usher in the spring with joy and laughter and frighten away the winter.

This specific mask was used in Ehningen by the Würmdal-Deifels Guild from 2006 until 2012.

Regrettably, the best text on Carnival in Bavaria and Swabia is still available in German only: Heinz Wintermantel’s Hoorig, hoorig isch die Katz (Würzburg: Konrad Theiss, 1978).

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