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Austrian Perchtenmaske

TITLE: Austrian Perchtenmaske
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Austria
SUBREGION: Vorarlberg
ETHNICITY: Tyrolean
DESCRIPTION: Perchtenmaske (Krampus Mask)
CATALOG ID: EUAT005
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Perchtenlauf
AGE: ca. 1910
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: Ziegenbock horns; paint

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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Bugaku Somakusha

TITLE: Bugaku Somakusha
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Japan
SUBREGION: Osaka Prefecture
ETHNICITY: Japanese
DESCRIPTION: Somakusha Mask
CATALOG ID: ASJP002
MAKER: “Miyatake”
CEREMONY: Bugaku
AGE: 1990
MAIN MATERIAL: kanshitsu
OTHER MATERIALS: lacquer; kaolin clay; gold leaf; plant fiber; horse hair

Bugaku is an official court dance of Japan, dating back to about 500 C.E.  During the Heian period, Bugaku dances were so central to protocol that nearly all ceremonies and festivals included them. The dance was especially important in appeasing angry gods, purifying the village, and petitioning the gods for rain or a good harvest.  The dance is performed to the music of drums and flutes. The dancers enter the stage singly in succession, then dance together in pairs, in synchronicity to varying tempos. Each dance has its own mask and is named after the mask.

Bugaku masks were sometimes made of wood, and sometimes (like this one) made from kanshitsu, a composite of sawdust and resin shaped over a mold. This mask is a near replica of one from the 1920s or 1930s kept in the Shitennō-ji Temple in Osaka.

The Somakusha is thought to represent the god of a mountain who dances for a flute playing hermit who descended from the mountain after his devotions there.

For more on Bugaku masks, see Kyōtarō Nishikawa, Bugaku Masks (Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd. 1971).


Click above to watch a short documentary film about the Bugaku dance of Japan.

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Español Mask

TITLE: Español Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Veracruz
ETHNICITY: Nahua
DESCRIPTION: Español (Spaniard) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAMX155
MAKER: Unknown maker in Tenexaco
CEREMONY: Danza de la Conquista
AGE: 1940s-1950s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

The Danza de la Conquista (Dance of the Conquest) in Mexico can refer either to the conquest of the Aztecs by the Spaniards or to the conquest (properly, reconquest) of Spain from the Saracens by the European Christians. This mask is used for reenacting the latter conquest, which is frequently and more correctly called the Danza de los Moros y Cristianos (Dance of the Moors and Christians). The latter was taught by missionaries as part of an effort to instill respect for and fear of the Spaniards in the indigenous peoples, and to convince them that the victory of Christianity over other faiths—by violence whenever necessary—was inevitable.

The dance is still performed widely in Mexico, including in Mexico State, Michoacán, Puebla, and Veracruz. Important characters include Spaniards (like this one), Moors, saints, angels, and devils.

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Tigre Mask

TITLE: Tigre Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Guerrero
ETHNICITY: Nahua
DESCRIPTION: Tigre (Jaguar) Helmet Mask
CATALOG ID: LAMX026
MAKER: Unknown maker in Zitlala
CEREMONY: Batalla de los Tigres (Tecuanis)
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: mirrors; thread; boar hair; paint

In Guerrero, Mexico, the Batalla de los Tigres (Tiger Battles) are today part of the Catholic feast day of the Holy Cross, but its origins probably reach back into the pre-conquest era worship of a jaguar god (notwithstanding the name and appearance of the mask, there are no tigers in any part of the Americas). Indeed, in many parts of Guerrero, the dancers are referred to as tecuani, the Nahuatl word for jaguar (literally, “man-eater”).  The modern dance is used to summon rain for the spring planting season.  The jaguars engage in a fierce battle, striking each other with knotted ropes.

This mask is from Zitlala, where hard leather helmet masks are typically used to protect the masquerader’s head from the blows of the ropes. Such masks are either yellow or green depending on the neighborhood (barrio) where it was made.

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Fang Ngil Mask

TITLE: Fang Ngil Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Gabon
ETHNICITY: Fang
DESCRIPTION: Ngil (gorilla) mask with figure on head
CATALOG ID: AFGA003
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Purification; Secret Society; Social Control
AGE: late 20th century
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin clay

The Fang people inhabit Equatorial Guinea, northern Gabon and Cameroon and are divided between followers of their traditional animist  religion, byeri, and the Catholicism of their French colonizers. The Ngil Secret Society is responsible for social control by assembling in the night to punish sorcerers and purify the village of evil. The Society’s masks are made to resemble the powerful gorilla, and a full suit of raffia fiber is worn to enhance the effect of furriness. This mask is unusual in its relatively serene expression and the inclusion of a second ape atop the head.

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Tejerones Donkey Mask

TITLE: Tejerones Donkey Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Oaxaca
ETHNICITY: Mixtec
DESCRIPTION: Burro (donkey) mask
CATALOG ID: LAMX090
MAKER: José “Ché” Luna López (Huazolotitlán, Pinotepa Nacional, 1931-2022)
CEREMONY: Danza de los Tejorones
AGE: 1975
MAIN MATERIAL: red cedar wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

The Danza de los Tejorones originates in the resentment felt by the Mixtec people at the political and economic domination of the Spaniards and mestizos. The tejorones characters wear poorly fitting suits and Caucasian-type masks with a feather headdress, and carry rattles in one hand a handkerchief, machete, or gun in the other. It begins with music as the tejorones characters line up in two files opposite one another, with the sole female character, Maria Candelaria, at one end. They dance in an intricate pattern and periodically shout while animals such as the tigre (jaguar), dog, cow, or donkey, surround them and act out their roles. The behavior of the tejorones is offensive to the crowd, with insults shouted and sexual taboos violated, but the crowd must endure it patiently.

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Torito Mask

TITLE: Torito Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Chiapas
ETHNICITY: Mayan
DESCRIPTION: Torito (little bull) mask
CATALOG ID: LAMX009
MAKER: Paola Carolina Torres Hidalgo (Chiapa de Corzo)
CEREMONY: Baile del Torito y Parachico
AGE: 2009
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: plaster; lacquer; oil paint; cattle horns; glass eyes; cattle teeth; cattle hair

The Baile del Torito y Parachico (Dance of the Little Bull and Parachico) is unique to Chiapas, the southernmost region of Mexico, and is most commonly performed in Chiapa de Corzo and Suchiapa. The dance begins with six to eight female dancers dancing to the music of drums, flute, and sometimes other instruments, after which a dancer in a bull mask and a dancer in a parachico mask enter, dance with the ladies, and stage a mock bullfight. Both the torito and the parachico wear black pants, white shirt, and a multicolored sarape.

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Bamileke Kuosi Society Mask

TITLE: Bamileke Kuosi Society Mask
TYPE: hood mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Cameroon
ETHNICITY: Bamileke
DESCRIPTION: Mbap Mgteng elephant mask
CATALOG ID: AFCM001
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Kuosi Society
AGE: ca. 1970s-1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: dyed cotton cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: glass beads; cotton wadding; thread

The Bamileke people of the Cameroon grasslands are closely related to their neighbors, the Babanki and Bamoun peoples, and have similar artistic styles. The Bamileke society is highly stratified by lineage, with certain royal lineages exclusively entitled to wear certain masks.  Lineage masks may represent persons, such as the kam, ngoin, or animals, and are used principally at funerals and annual festivals for the harvesting of crops. The cloth elephant mask, known as mbap mgteng, depicts an animal of great power on the African plains. Its use is reserved for members of the elite Kuosi Society, who assist the fon (king) in maintaining social control.

Beads were historically imported from the Europeans and very costly, and so their use in a mask represents high status.  The more richly beaded the mask, the higher the wearer’s status.

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Jukumari Mask

TITLE: Jukumari Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Bolivia
SUBREGION: Oruro
ETHNICITY: Quechua and Aymara
DESCRIPTION: Jukumari (bear) mask
CATALOG ID: LABO029
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Carnival (La Diablada)
AGE: ca. 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: felt covered with plaster
OTHER MATERIALS: paper maché ears; alpaca fur; glass lightbulbs; human hair; paint

The Diablada is an important part of Carnival in several towns in the Altiplano region of Bolivia, Peru, and northern Chile.  The Diablada of Oruro, Bolivia, is famous for the large numbers of participants and the elaborateness of their masks and costumes.

The dance dates back to pre-colonial times and was adapted under the influence of the Spanish missionaries to conform to the Catholic doctrine of the struggle between good and evil.  The dance begins with the Archangel Michael commanding personified seven virtues against Lucifer and his personified seven deadly sins and an army of male and female devils.  Other non-European characters, such as the Andean Condor and the bear, also play a role.  The dance typically occurs in the course of the parade, with marching bands playing musical scores dating back to the 17th century.

This mask represents the bear, or jukumari, and dates to the 1960s. It was made by the then-usual technique of putting felt or linen cloth over a fired clay mold, then applying plaster and letting it set. Lightbulbs were painted and used for eyes, and alpaca fur gives the bear a realistic look.

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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Fasnet Witch

TITLE: Fasnet Witch
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Germany
SUBREGION: Swabia
ETHNICITY: Swabian
DESCRIPTION: Witch Mask
CATALOG ID: EUDE001
MAKER: Edgar Spiegelhalter (March-Hugstetten, 1952- )
CEREMONY: Fasnet (Carnival)
AGE: 2013
MAIN MATERIAL: linden wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

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 witch (Hexe) character.

Regrettably, the best texts on Carnival in Bavaria and Swabia are still available in German only: Heinz Wintermantel’s Hoorig, hoorig isch die Katz (Würzburg: Konrad Theiss, 1978) and Dick Eckert’s Die Werdenfelser Fasnacht und ihre Larven (Volk Verlag München, 2015).

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