Last week I discussed a set of five masks from the area of Carpinteros, Veracruz—three birds, a rat, and a tejon (badger), illustrating two contrasting eye and vision slit styles that were very typical of that area in the mid to late 20th century. Today I will continue this discussion with five more masks from the same area: a Zorrillo (little fox), two Perros (dogs), a Torito (bull), and a Venadito (little deer). I bought the bull and one of the dogs from Robin and Barbara Cleaver in 1994, and the other three from Rene Bustamante in 1993 and 1994.
I will start with the little fox. In this example the crescent shaped vision slits lie below the carved and painted eyes.
It has a fox’s sharp little nose. This is another mask carved by Manuel Cortez.
It is easier to see, from the side view, that this mask was not meant to represent a dog. It is 7½ inches tall, 5¾ inches wide, and 4 inches long.
The back is worn. Rene felt that this mask dated to the 1940s.
The next mask was said to be a dog, although it has such a mean look that I wonder if it might be a wolf. Rene described this as another Manuel Cortez mask, from Miahualco, and from the 1940s.
There are fangs, many teeth, and a large extended tongue.
Note that this mask has the more usual vision slits above the carved and painted eyes.
This mask is 10 inches tall, 7 inches wide, and 6¾ inches long.
The back is worn. The open mouth provides the dancer with lots of air.
The second dog, from the Cleavers, looks rather different from the first.
We see the usual crescent shaped vision slits over carved and painted eyes.
Note the carved ears that were left incomplete at the top.
From the back, one can see that this mask once broke into two parts and was glued back together.
This bull, also from the Cleavers, has the eye style with the vision opening within the carved eye.
I find this a very pleasing mask in its simplicity.
It is 14½ inches tall, 11¾ inches wide, and 4½ inches long.
The back demonstrates significant staining from use.
The last of these masks represents a deer. The applied horns were carved from wooden branches.
This one has the typical arrangement of the eye slits over the eyes. It is from Miahualco and the carver was Manuel Cortez.
The deer mask is 17 inches tall, 15 inches wide, and 5½ inches long.
All of the Miahualco masks demonstrate significant age.
Next week we will examine a more heterogeneous collection of masks from the Huasteca.