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Kuker Mask

TITLE: Kuker Mask
TYPE: hood mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Bulgaria
ETHNICITY: Bulgarian
DESCRIPTION: Kuker Mask
MAKER: Elitsa Ilieva
CEREMONY: Christmas; Ephiphany; Sirni Zagovezni; Survakari; Kukerovden
AGE: 2012
MAIN MATERIAL: cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: sequins; plastic beads; thread

The dance of the kuker (plural, kukeri) is a pre-Christian ritual.  The word kuker comes from the Latin word for hood. In Bulgarian folklore, the kuker is a mythical monster that drive evil spirits away from the village.  Men dance as kukeri wearing suits of goat fur, leather, or cloth; masks of wood, leather, or goat fur; and heavy bronze bells.

During late winter festivals such as Christmas, Epiphany (January 6), or Sirni Zagovezni (the Sunday before Lent), the kukeri dance through the village streets to purify the village and ensure a successful planting season, visiting houses and blessing the inhabitants. The grotesque costumes and loud noise made by the bells are intended to frighten evil spirits away.  The kukeri may also perform in folk plays, such as Survakari and Kukerovden (The Day of the Kukers). In some villages, participation in the Kukerovden play was long considered an initiation ritual that a young man had to complete to qualify for marriage.

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Fasnet Character Mask

TITLE: Fasnet Character Mask
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Germany
SUBREGION: Garmisch-Partenkirchen
ETHNICITY: Swabian (German)
DESCRIPTION: Bearded Character Mask
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Fasnet (Carnival)
AGE: 1930
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; string

In many parts of Swabia and Bavaria, Carnival (usually called Fasnet or Fastnet in this region of Germany) is celebrated with parades of masked clowns (Narren) and characters lampooning local villager types. The beer-swiller, the gossip, and benign old man and woman, and the fool are all typically represented. This mask probably represents a drunkard, based on the reddish, bulbous nose.

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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Paper Carnival Mask

TITLE: Paper Carnival Mask
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: France
SUBREGION: N/A
ETHNICITY: French
DESCRIPTION: Character Mask
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Carnival
AGE: ca. 1930s
MAIN MATERIAL: kraft paper
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; copper wire; human hair

During the 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 France and represents a clown-like character. The toothbrush mustache originated in United States around 1900 and spread to Europe, where it remained popular until early 1940s.

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Austrian Perchtenmaske

TITLE: Austrian Perchtenmaske
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Austria
ETHNICITY: Tyrolean
DESCRIPTION: Perchtenmaske (Krampus Mask)
MAKER: Josef “Sepp” Seidl, Sankt Veit im Pongau (1975- )
CEREMONY: Perchtenlauf
AGE: 2008
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: Steinbock horns; padded leather; mesh; paint; glass eyes; horse hair; plastic and foam rubber helmet

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.

This mask uses the traditional Steinbock horns and was worn in Krampuslaufs in Tyrolean Austria from 2009 until 2015.

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Fasnet Gretle

TITLE: Fasnet Gretle
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Germany
SUBREGION: Todtmoos
ETHNICITY: Swabian (German)
DESCRIPTION: Gretle Narro
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Fasnet (Carnival)
AGE: 1973
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; lacquer; elastic straps

In many parts of Swabia and Bavaria, Carnival (usually called Fasnet or Fastnet in this region of Germany) is celebrated with parades of masked clowns (Narren).  The clown parade (Narrensprung) is organized by guilds (Zarrenzunft), all members of which wear similar costumes and masks.  Each town has its own guilds, with some overlap in styles of Narro.  Their purpose is to usher in the spring with joy and laughter.

The small town of Todtmoos in Baden-Württemberg has a Carnival tradition of parading clowns called Gretle, a comical woman in a red cap and gown and carrying a red umbrella. The Gretles are organized by the Lebküchler Guild.

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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Carnival Character

TITLE: Carnival Character
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Switzerland
SUBREGION: Lucerne
ETHNICITY: Swiss
DESCRIPTION: Character Mask
MAKER: Toni Meier, Kriens (1941- )
CEREMONY: Fasnacht (Carnival)
AGE: 2011
MAIN MATERIAL: linden wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; lacquer; dyed cotton cap

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 such as this one, 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).

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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Flums Carnival Mask

TITLE: Flums Carnival Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Switzerland
SUBREGION: Flums
ETHNICITY: Swiss
DESCRIPTION: Alte Frau (Old Woman) Mask
MAKER: Marcus DeFlorin, Flums (1959- )
CEREMONY: Fasnacht (carnival)
AGE: 2011
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; wool hair; cloth

Fasnacht is what the Tyrolean 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.

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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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 from Voronezh
CEREMONY: Novy God (New Year’s Holiday)
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: thin cardboard
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.

This specific mask was made in the Dynamo Workshop of the Voronezh Sports Complex, which produced them between 1951 and 1991. The masks were probably designed by the artist S.M. Nyuhin, but little is known about the specific craftswomen who made them. They were originally shaped from mashed paper on gypsum molds; dried with electric heaters; cut and pierced; primed with oil, chalk and glue; and painted and lacquered. In the 1970s, aluminum molds replaced the gypsum and cardboard substituted for paper maché, but the skilled hand painting continued.

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Capra Mask

TITLE: Capra Mask
TYPE: hood mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Romania
ETHNICITY: Romanian-Moldovan
DESCRIPTION: Bătrânul (Old Man) Mask
MAKER: Iulian Mihalachi, Bălţăteşti-Neamţ (1968- )
CEREMONY: Capra (Goat Dance)
AGE: 2012
MAIN MATERIAL: dyed woolen cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: sheep’s wool; wooden beads

The capra, or goat dance, is performed in parts of rural Romania on New Year’s Eve as part of a caroling tradition. In pre-Christian times, the ritual was probably intended to drive away winter spirits and purify the village. In the dance, masqueraders in bătrânul (old man) masks and costumes and large bells dance to the music of traditional pipes with either a living goat or a masquerader dressed as one.

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Fasnet Devil

TITLE: Fasnet Devil
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Germany
SUBREGION: Freiburg
ETHNICITY: Swabian (German)
DESCRIPTION: Teufel (Devil) Mask
MAKER: Edgar Spiegelhalter (1952- ), March-Hugstetten
CEREMONY: Fasnet (Carnival)
AGE: 2007
MAIN MATERIAL: linden wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; synthetic fur; foam rubber padding; elastic straps

In many parts of Swabia and Bavaria, Carnival (usually called Fasnet or Fastnet in this region of Germany) is celebrated with parades of masked clowns (Narren).  The clown parade (Narrenlaufen, Narrensprung or Narrenzunft) is organized by guilds, all members of which wear similar kinds of costumes and masks.  Each town has its own guilds, with some overlap in styles of Narro.  Their purpose is to usher in the spring with joy and laughter.

Some carnival masks are not part of Narro guilds, but are unique to the individual wearing them.  This specific mask was made by master carver Edgar Spiegelhalter of Freiburg.  It represents a classic version of the Tyrolean devil (Teufel) character and was used by a member of a Narro guild from 2007 to 2009.

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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