Barney Burns and Mahina Drees collected many masks that had been carved by Pablo Pacheco. Most of these had been briefly danced by Pablo, and some by other Mayo Pascolas. Pablo’s masks are a particular favorite of Mahina. Today I will show you a series of Pablos’ masks with goat or human faces that were collected by Barney and Mahina in the latter 1980s, just one view of each to demonstrate the range in their collection. First here are some Goat Pascola masks by Pablo. As I said in last week’s post, most of Pablo’s goats follow a predictable design, with minor variations. This one has an extended tongue.

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Today I want to introduce you to the masks of Pablo Pacheco of Rincon Aliso, Sinaloa.

Tom Kolaz obtained this mask from a runner in Sinaloa in 2009, and sold it to me in 2010. By that time Pablo was deceased. The mask had been made circa 1980. The initial owner, Concepción Ontiveros, had been given this mask by a relative as a gift. He was a teacher by day, and a Pascola during fiestas. Although he was the usual wearer of the mask, he also taught his pupils to dance as Pascolas, and he allowed them to wear it sometimes, when they were dancing.

This mask has the long hair that is favored by Sinaloa Pascola dancers. It has wonderful patina.

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In the last two posts we looked at masks by Saturnino Valenzuela that had been in the personal collection of Barney Burns and Mahina Drees. They had kept many danced examples, even as they bought and sold many of his undanced masks to Indian Arts Dealers and collectors. Today I will show you some additional masks from another private collection that were also carved by Saturnino. Several of these seem extraordinary to me. I photographed these when they were in the collection of Jerry Collings.

The first is a copy by Saturnino of a circa 1900 Yaqui mask that he had apparently seen in a photograph. It was collected by Roberto Ruiz in 1982, after it had been danced for two years.

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This week we will examine some Animal Faced Masks by Saturnino Valenzuela From the Collection of Barney Burns and Mahina Drees.

The first Pascola mask, a Goat, is old but lacks any documentation. It has elements of Saturnino’s style, but it may not have been carved by him.

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