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Bamileke Kam Crest

TITLE: Bamileke Kam Crest
TYPE: crest mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Cameroon
ETHNICITY: Bamileke
DESCRIPTION: Kam crest mask
CATALOG ID: AFCM006
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Agriculture; Celebration; Funeral; Status
AGE: 1980
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: glass beads; adhesive; yarn

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 kam mask is reserved for royalty and is the highest ranking mask, with ngoin, his wife (whose mask is similar but in a helmet shape), also highly ranked.

Bamileke masks are typically made of carved wood, sometimes with white kaolin clay coloring. This one is assiduously beaded, which indicates the high status of the wearer, as beads and brass are materials reserved to chiefs and their kin.

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Nagakanya Mask

TITLE: Nagakanya Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Sri Lanka
ETHNICITY: Sinhalese
DESCRIPTION: Nagakanya (Virgin of the Snakes) Mask
CATALOG ID: ASLK005
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Kolam Natima Dance Drama
AGE: 1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: kadura (Strychnox nux vomica) wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

The masked dance of Sri Lanka developed from shamanic healing and purification rituals, and  split along two lines.  The first, Yakun Natima, is the healing dance performed by a shaman.  Each demon (yakku) represents a specific disease or ailment, and to invoke the demon, the shaman wears a mask depicting the symptoms or symbols of the disease. When performing as a group, a character known as Kola Sanni Yakka, who is a kind of amalgamation of all diseases, presides over the demons.

The second line, Kolam Natima is a storytelling dance drama involving 40 masked characters of very diverse types. The story originates in a myth of a pregnant Sinhalese queen who develops a craving to see masked dances. She begs her husband, the king, to arrange it, but he knows of no such dances. At his request, the god Sekkria, one of the four guardian gods, carves the masks and teaches the people how to perform the dance. They perform for the royal audience, and the baby is consequently born strong and healthy. The stories told with the masks are not a single cohesive narrative, but a series of stories that merge Sinhalese folk traditions with Buddhist Jataka stories, which tell of the former lives of the Buddha.

A Kolam Natima performance begins with ritual addresses to gods and the Buddha. What follows is a prologue showing brief stock, mostly comical, scenes from traditional Sri Lankan society.  Finally, the king and the queen in very large masks enter with their retinue, whence they watch the dance.  The performance ends with the dance, typically involving Gara demons, Nagas (snake demons) and the Garuda (a Naga-eating god-bird) who were eventually reconciled by the Buddha. The performance is intended to purify the village and to spread prosperity.

This mask represents Nagakanya, the Hindu “Virgin of the Snakes” adopted into Buddhist mythology to represent guardians of treasures, such as sacred teachings.

For more on the masks of Sri Lanka, see Alain Loviconi, Masks and Exorcisms of Sri Lanka (Paris: Éditions Errance, 1981).

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Fasnet Langnase Mask

TITLE: Fasnet Langnase Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Germany
SUBREGION: Elzach
ETHNICITY: Swabian (German)
DESCRIPTION: Langnase Narro (Longnose clown) Mask with hood
CATALOG ID: EUDE008
MAKER: Andreas Lang (Elzach, 1965- )
CEREMONY: Fasnet (Carnival)
AGE: 2016
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: dyed felt cloth; stitching; oil-based 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.

Carnival in Elzach extends back at least to 1530 century, and uses a variety of traditional masks, or larve, such as the rascal (Fratz), fox (Grfrisse), and devil (Teufel).  This specific mask, representing the “Long Nose” clown, was made by the master carver, Andreas Lang.

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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Tío Supay

TITLE: Tío Supay
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Bolivia
SUBREGION: Oruro
ETHNICITY: Quechua and Aymara
DESCRIPTION: Tío Supay (Uncle Supay) Mask
CATALOG ID: LABO013
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Carnival
AGE: 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: tin sheet
OTHER MATERIALS: glitter; dyed plant fiber; oil paint; foam rubber; LED lights and wiring

The Tío Supay (Uncle Supay) is the Incan god of death, whose worship predates the Spanish conquest. Incans and their descendants, the Quechua and Aymara peoples, prayed and made offerings to Supay to propitiate him. In most mines in the Bolivian and Peruvian Altoplano, a figure of Tío Supay would be seated deep in the shaft, and cigars, cigarettes, alcohol, food, and other offerings are left for him to protect the miners.

The Catholic colonizers objected to Supay, viewing the offerings as Devil worship, and so Supay came to be identified with the Christian Satan. His appearance morphed to resemble the Catholic Devil myth, and he plays the role of a demon opposed to the Archangel Michael in the Carnival parades of Oruro. Nonetheless, the worship of Supay continues, and most Aymara people deny any connection between Supay and the Catholic Devil.

This specific mask was made in the 1970s by a caretero (mask maker) in the Calle de los Andes, La Paz for use in the Oruro Carnival. Later, LED lights were added to the eyes with silicon glue in the 2000s to make the mask light up at night.

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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Bauta Carnival Mask

TITLE: Bauta Carnival Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Italy
SUBREGION: Venice
ETHNICITY: Italian
DESCRIPTION: Leather Venetian Bauta mask
CATALOG ID: EUIT012
MAKER: Graziano “Safir” Viale (Lonigo [Vicenza], 1959- )
CEREMONY: Carnival
AGE: 2013
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; hardware

The bauta (“face”) is a classic Venetian carnival mask that covers the top part of the face to allow anonymity without interfering with the masquerader’s ability to speak, drink, or eat.  This is one of the oldest masks used in Venice for Carnival and masquerade balls, and was typically worn with a flowing black costume and a large three-corner hat.

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Javanese Gunung Sari

TITLE: Javanese Gunung Sari
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Indonesia
SUBREGION: Java
ETHNICITY: Javanese
DESCRIPTION: Gunung Sari Mask
CATALOG ID: ASID031
MAKER: Ganuh Nugroho AdiNarimo (Surakarta, 1966- )
CEREMONY: Topeng Dance Drama
AGE: 1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: pule wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; leather strap

The Topeng dance drama of the island of Java centers around the political history of the region and are called Babad Dalem (Chronicles of the Kings) or Raket. The most popular story centers around the national hero Panji, whose consort Dewi Chandrakirana is abducted by the powerful King Klana Sewandana of Bantarangin.

This specific mask represents a character known as Gunung Sari, brother to Chandrakirana and brother-in-law to the hero of the drama, Panji.  It is used most commonly in the Cirebon Topeng in West Java.  The mask would be worn by the masquerader biting down on the leather strap to hold the mask in place. This leaves the character mute throughout the performance.

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Cherokee Warrior Mask

TITLE: Cherokee Warrior Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: United States of America
SUBREGION: North Carolina
ETHNICITY: Cherokee
DESCRIPTION: War mask with snake on head
CATALOG ID: LAUS079
MAKER: Allen Long (Cherokee, North Carolina, 1917-1983)
CEREMONY: Snake Mask Dance
FUNCTION: war preparation
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: pigment; leather strap

The Snake-Mask Dance was a dance of the Cherokee people, danced with a gourd rattle and leg-rattles made of turtle shells, performed in preparation for war. It represents the warrior’s fearlessness (wearing a poisonous snake on his forehead) and defiance of human enemies, sorcerers, and ghosts. The purpose of the dance was probably to enlist other men into joining a war party. The warrior danced the mask counter-clockwise around a fire with a slow march step. A singer followed, followed in turn by a woman with turtle leg-rattles and other warriors. The warrior then took a position behind the woman, and the singer led the group in song.

For more on Cherokee masked dance, see Frank G. Speck & Leonard Broom, Cherokee Dance and Drama (University of Oklahoma Press 1951).

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Monkey Mask

TITLE: Monkey Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Guatemala
SUBREGION: Unknown
ETHNICITY: Mayan (K’ich’e)
DESCRIPTION: Mono (Monkey) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAGT023
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Baile de los Animalitos; Baile del Venado
AGE: 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: painted glass eyes; adhesive; oil-based paint

The Baile de los Animalitos (Dance of the Little Animals), also called the Baile de los Animales, is an annual ceremony in several cities of central and southern Guatemala, usually during a holiday in honor of the town’s patron saint. The dance involves an angel, a hunter, and many different kinds of animals, including the mono (monkey).  The dance probably predates the Spanish conquest, and involves many speeches by the animals relating to their characteristics, their role in the ecosystem, and (since colonization) their anomalous praise of the Virgin Mary. The hunter no longer hunts the animals in the modern rendition. After the speeches, they all dance to a marimba band.

The mono mask is also used in the Baile del Venado (Dance of the Deer).

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

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Monkey Mask

TITLE: Monkey Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Guatemala
SUBREGION: Nahualá
ETHNICITY: Mayan (Kaqchikel)
DESCRIPTION: Mono (Monkey) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAGT033
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Baile de los Animalitos; Baile del Venado
AGE: 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: oil-based paint

The Baile de los Animalitos (Dance of the Little Animals), also called the Baile de los Animales, is an annual ceremony in several cities of central and southern Guatemala, usually during a holiday in honor of the town’s patron saint. The dance involves an angel, a hunter, and many different kinds of animals, including the mono (monkey).  The dance probably predates the Spanish conquest, and involves many speeches by the animals relating to their characteristics, their role in the ecosystem, and (since colonization) their anomalous praise of the Virgin Mary. The hunter no longer hunts the animals in the modern rendition. After the speeches, they all dance to a marimba band.

The mono mask is also used in the Baile del Venado (Dance of the Deer).  This specific mono was made by a skilled carver in the Nahualá, Sololá Department, and used for many years there.

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

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Babanki Elephant Crest

TITLE: Babanki Elephant Crest
TYPE: crest mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Cameroon
ETHNICITY: Babanki
DESCRIPTION: Elephant Crest
CATALOG ID: AFCM005
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Celebration; Funeral
AGE: 1980
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: glass beads; dried seeds; wicker

The Babanki people of the Cameroon grasslands are closely related to their neighbors, the Bamileke people, and have similar artistic styles. The Babanki worship ancestral spirits and collect their skulls as the patrimony of the lineage. Babanki 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, or animals, like this one, and are used principally at funerals and annual festivals. The elephant mask is reserved for lineages close to royalty, and the wearer of this mask assumes the second most prestigious position after the human mask.

Babanki masks are typically made of carved wood, sometimes with white kaolin clay coloring. This one is assiduously beaded in the style typical among the Bamileke people.

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