Following the conquest of Mexico by Cortez and his conquistadors, Roman Catholic missionaries arrived with the charge to convert the Indians to Christianity. Because these Indians had traditionally used masks, costumes, music, and dramatic performances to portray their gods and beliefs, it seemed obvious that such theatrical practices could be used to teach them about European religion, so plays that had long served to convey and reinforce Christian teachings in Spain and other European nations were adapted by the missionaries for use in New Spain. Of these, the most famous are La Pastorela (the Shepherd’s Play) and Los Moros y Cristianos (the drama of the Moors and Christians). I have told quite a it about the latter play in earlier posts, particularly noting how this became the model for other dance dramas, such as the Santiagueros. Today I will introduce a series of posts about the Shepherd’s Play.

In my post of Aug 11, 2014, I had shared with you some images of a Diablo mask that was used to portray Satan in a Michoacán performance of the Shepherd’s play. My purpose then was to illustrate a remarkable fact—Mexican Masks, Donald Cordry ‘s famous book, contains a curious mixture of inauthentic (decorative) masks and extremely important authentic masks and related dance photos. Today we will revisit that terrific Diablo mask, which is one of my favorites, and compare it to dance images provided in Cordry’s book to introduce the Pastorela dance. Here is this Diablo that I first showed you nearly three years ago.

Spencer Throckmorton, an ethnographic arts dealer in Manhattan, is particularly fond of devil masks, and he once devoted an entire wall of his apartment to their display. In 1995 he sold those masks, and I purchased this beautiful old Diablo from his wall. It was originally collected near Lake Patzquaro, in Michoacán. It had four holes around the forehead, the central pair were each 3/8” in diameter; I wondered about the purpose of those holes. Paging through Cordry’s book, I found photos (Plate 7 on page 6 and plate 307 on page 247), which included a mask that resembled and explained my mask, and it even appeared to be by the same hand. Those photos were taken by Donald Cordry in Cherán, Michoacán, in 1935. The mask in the photos had curved wooden horns projecting from holes on the sides, along with carved snakes writhing across the forehead.

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Identifying Pascola Masks—Old or Contemporary?

By guest contributor Tom Kolaz

As you may have gathered, Dr. Stevens and I have had many dialogues about masks, carvers, and Indian culture over the past 25 years, in person and via email, and these have been enlightening and enjoyable for both of us. I have read with interest his blog about Mexican Dance Masks over the last three years. His posts during this past year on Pascola masks have been my favorites, for many reasons.  Dr. Stevens is methodical in his identification process and he brings years of experience to the task of identifying and speaking about Yaqui and Mayo Pascola masks, after viewing and handing hundreds of them in public and private collections, including my own.

Dr. Steven’s blog provides a wealth of information that encompasses years of thought, travel, observations and scholarly research. He has a pleasant way of presenting his readers with almost “matter of fact” information that has taken decades to be able to discern.

I met Dr. Stevens while working as a curator at the Arizona State Museum. It was a week or so before Easter and I learned from my colleagues that Dr. Stevens was “right on time” for his annual visit to the ASM collections division to view the Pascola masks yet again! My kind of guy.

My interest in Pascola masks focuses primarily on contemporary masks and carvers (the last 30 years or so). I particularly like masks made by carvers I have met, repeatedly interviewed, and photographed during the process of the carving. I enjoy observing a mask in the making and then seeing it worn at ceremonies. It intrigues me seeing how a mask changes in appearance over the course of further use. Masks are initially made by a carver, and are then very often made over or remade by the dancers who use them, so that these masks reflect the dancers’ design preferences and paint colors rather than those of the carver. Lastly, I am interested in the relationships that Pascolas have with their masks, do they have one or more masks that they use on a regular basis, do they loan their masks out to other Pascolas, and how often do they clean and touch up their masks? Such topics will be the subject of this post. I will tell about a single Yaqui mask (like those you have read about in the past year on this blog) and then a single Mayo Pascola mask.

An Old/New Yaqui Pascola mask.

This mask is an old (1950s) Yaqui Pascola mask that was brought to a Yaqui carver to be refurbished. The owner, a Pascola dancer who had used the mask for decades, sought help because the hair was falling out, the paint had faded, the face was dinged up, and it was showing it’s age. The carver, a friend of mine who was certainly not the original maker, told the Pascola that he would be happy to refurbish the mask and to come back in a few days. The Pascola dancer returned to pick up his mask; while visiting he noticed some masks that this carver had recently made. One in particular caught his eye and he told the carver he would like to buy the mask but he didn’t have money to purchase it. The carver, knowing that I was researching masks of various ages and that I would probably buy the old mask (now refurbished), told the Pascola he would trade him the mask he wanted for his old mask. The Pascola was thrilled to make the trade and get such a fine new mask.

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I began this series of posts about Yoeme (Yaqui) Pascola masks on July 4, 2016, one year ago. Back then, I had no idea that I would stay with this subject for an entire year. Today I will conclude with five excellent masks by identified carvers whose output was less prolific, so they are less well known, yet well worth knowing. All of these are from a private collection that has passed through several hands in recent years. I took these photos several years ago when they were in the collection of David West, of the Gallery West in Tucson, and I am grateful for his permission to photograph and publish these examples.

This magnificent old mask was reportedly carved by Felipe Reyes of Loma de Bacum, Sonora, in about 1961, and it was subsequently danced by Juan Sol Valencia for 20 years. It appears to still have its original paint, which is definitely showing its age.

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I surprised myself by finding so much to say about Yaqui Pascola masks that I posted on that subject for 11½ months. I wondered whether there was anything left to to write about, thinking that I might as well make it a full year. Sure enough, I found a few more clusters of interesting masks. This week I will turn again to anonymous masks that have tormented me for one or two decades. Those from my collection are some of my favorites.

I purchased this mask from John Kania and Joe Ferrin in Santa Fe, in 1991. It was obviously old and wonderful, but it came with no history.

This mask apparently had inlaid mirrors on the cheeks, which are now lost. Also notable are the inscribed decorative scrolls on the forehead and cheeks.

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Last week we took advantage of Danial Moreno’s trademark oversized noses to recognize a few otherwise anonymous masks as his work. But there was another anonymous mask with an oversized nose that I didn’t show you, because it didn’t sufficiently resemble Daniel’s masks. Then it occurred to me that there is another carver of big noses for us to bring into such a quest, and that is Beto Matus. I have already introduced him in my examination of the goat faced Pascola mask at the end of my post of May 29, 2017 ( https://mexicandancemasks.com/?p=9855 ). Here is a full set of photos of the Beto Matus mask from Tom Kolaz’s collection. Ironically after I first saw these photos several years ago, I realized that there was an identical mask in the collection of the Arizona State Museum, although that one lacked an identified carver at that time.

Again I thank my friend Tom Kolaz for taking these photos and for allowing me to show them to you.

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Today I have the pleasure of showing you a series of Yaqui Pascola masks that were carved by Daniel Moreno of Hermosillo, Sonora.  I will show three that were either purchased directly from the carver or confirmed by him, and these will demonstrate his typical stylistic features.  However, they certainly do not demonstrate unformity of design. Drawing on this variety of features, we will examine two more that I have attributed to Danial on the basis of their similarities to the other three. As you will see, this carver’s most characteristic feature is a very large nose.

This mask and the next were collected from Danial Moreno in January 1981, in Hermosillo (Sonora), by someone who wishes to remain anonymous. They have subsequently passed through various collections. I am grateful to David West, the owner of Gallery West in Tucson, for allowing me to take and publish these photos. This one had reportedly been danced for 23 years.

Isn’t this a dramatic mask!

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As previously noted, I am always interested in identifying the maker of an attractive but anonymous mask. Sometimes the observed features are merely suggestive of a particular hand, while other details seem to contradict that attribution. On further study, incremental clues may accumulate to a point where the identity of a particular mask’s carver becomes suddenly obvious, or this same accumulation may overturn one’s earlier impressions. In today’s post I will discuss four beautiful Yaqui Pascola masks from my collection that have obvious age, remarkable wear, and mystifying features. I imagine that they date to the 1940s or 1950s, but of course I have only limited data to support this impression. Whether you share my obsession about attribution or not, I am sure that you will be charmed by these masks.

I have pestered my friend Tom Kolaz about these masks and their features for more than a decade. Tom’s response seems like a good place to begin. He notes that these masks are old enough to have been repainted, perhaps more than once, and so some of the features that they have in common may reflect the hand of a later painter rather than that of the original carver. Such a situation might mitigate against my hope to identify the carvers. I acknowledge the validity of his perspective. Nevertheless, because these masks are so beautiful, they haunt me. Here is one of them. I bought this mask from Fred Huntington, a Tucson Indian Arts dealer, in about 1995.

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Today I will show some more unusual masks  that were carved by Crisencio Molina Maldonado, and then one of his necklaces, which are worn by Pascola and Deer dancers. I will begin with this Mouse faced mask. In 2007 Tom Kolaz told me that Crisencio had a friend in Potam, Sonora, a Pascola dancer whose nickname was “Mouse,” so Crisencio decided to make a mask with a mouse face for that dancer. The friend liked this mask and wore it as a Pascola. Both Tom and I found this a charming story, and so Tom asked Crisencio to make copies of that design for us. Crisencio delivered this one for me about two years later.

The ears are most artfully carved.

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Today we will look at seven masks by Crisencio Molina Maldonado that were carved in a small size that would be appropriate for children. The backs of these masks are unremarkable, and by now you have seen many examples of Crisencio’s manner of carving the backs, so I omitted photos of the backs of these children’s masks.The first, which was collected from the carver in 2004, portrays a parrot.

There is no forehead cross.

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Today we are going to look at bird masks by Crisencio, beginning with a Rooster and a Hen that date to 2004. Here is the Rooster.

There is no forehead cross and no place for a cross.

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