In last week’s post I introduced you to animal-faced masks that are probably used interchangeably between the Xantolos celebration during Todos Santos (All Saints/ All Souls) and the celebration of Carnaval (Mardi Gras). Here are some more of these animal Xantolo masks. As you will see, some were designated at the time of collection as Xantolo (or Chantolo) masks, while others were said to have been danced in Carnaval. The first two represent goats or rams.

I bought this ram mask from Jaled Muyaes and Estela Ogazón in 1997. It was identified as a Xantolo mask from Zoquicualuya, in the Municipio of Huazalingo, Hidalgo.

This is a dramatic mask, with the curling horns carved in high relief. The paint is cracked with age.

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In the course of collecting Xantolo masks, I found a number from towns in the Huasteca of Hidalgo and Veracruz that depicted animals or birds. Other similar masks were labeled as ones for Carnaval (Carnival or Mardi Gras). I am guessing that these masks might have been made for Carnaval and then used for the Xantolo performance. In Mask Arts of Mexico (Lechuga and Sayer 1994, page 55, plate 71) we find a mask with the form of a fish, which the authors report was “worn by Nahua performers during Carnaval and Day of the Dead ceremonies.” Today I will show you some of these masks, whether marked by one label or the other. I will start off with a group that are obviously all by the same anonymous hand as the Fish mask just mentioned. The first, with the Xipe Totec form, was clearly a Xantolo mask, while the rest are animals and birds.

As you can see, this mask has all of the usual elements of the Xipe Totec style Xantolo masks, with the addition of an extended tongue. I bought this mask from Robin and Barbara Cleaver in the late 1980s. Such masks came from towns in the Municipios of Atlapexco and Huejutla de Reyes, Hidalgo.

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This last group of human faced Xantolos features masks notable for primitive elegance.

I will begin with masks that were stained rather than painted. The first is a primitive masterpiece. It is labeled a Huehue/ Xantolo, from Piedras el Avaro, in the Municipio of Tantoyuca, Veracruz. I got this mask from Jaled Muyaes and Estela Ogazón in 1998.

This mask continues the theme of the dead wearing flabby, formless faces.

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This week I will further illustrate the variety to be found in human-faced Xantolo masks from the Huasteca region of Hidalgo and Veracruz, beginning with three masks that are painted black. This one reminds me of the Xipe style masks, although it lacks those typical features. I bought this mask from Sergio Roman Rodriguez of Mexico City in 1997.

This brooding, menacing mask would be highly effective on a dancer. With such eyes, the wearer would appear to be sleepwalking.

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This week we will examine Xantolo masks from Hidalgo and Veracruz that are painted red.

The first has a refined design. Were it painted another color, I might think that it was a mask from the Juanegros dance. I bought this mask from Jaled Muyaes and Estela Ogazón in 1999.

This is an attractive mask that is simply carved. Neither the hairline, the mustache, or the goatee are carved in relief; they are simply painted.

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The Xantolo masks that follow demonstrate the role of color to mark the face of a dead man. The first three of these are painted yellow. Such an unnatural color may well be intended to convey that this person’s skin is no longer healthy or alive.

I got the first of these from Jaled Muyaes and Estela Ogazón in 1997.

The “buck teeth” give this mask a silly expression.

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In the last four weeks we examined two general categories of Xantolo masks that were described by Jaled Muyaes and Estela Ogazón in their 1981 book, Máscaras—those that are finely carved and with realistic features versus others that seem primitive and/or geometric. Although I have relabeled the geometric masks as the Xipe Totec style, there are others that do seem more appropriately described as “primitive,” idiosyncratic, or borrowed from another dance; these will be the subject of discussion in this next series of posts. Here is one that is especially strange and idiosyncratic, so striking and alien! I see it as a masterpiece of folk art that can stand against almost anything from any culture.

I bought this mask from Jaled Muyaes and Estela Ogazón in 1997. It was found in Hidalgo. Evidently it is intended to be grotesque.

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In this post I will conclude my review of Xantolo masks in the geometric or Xipe style. The masks in today’s sample fit this standard more loosely, yet they have elements of this type. Most have the layered mouth within a mouth design, while one simply has a mouth of that shape, but without the extra layer. The first three and the last have the characteristic inscribed geometric lines; two others lack that feature. Looking at these masks, side by side, one realizes how wide and varied is the area in Hidalgo and Veracruz where the Xantolos continue to dance.

The first of this group, which I purchased from the Cavin Morris Gallery in 1994, was found in Taxtitla, Municipio of Chalma, Veracruz.

The depiction of a mouth within a mouth is dramatic. All of the teeth are covered with cigarette package foil.

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Today I will continue to show Xipe Totec style (or “geometric”) Xantolo masks.

I got this large mask from Jaled Muyaes and Estela Ogazón in 1998. It is from San Icantitla, in the Municipio of Huazalingo, Hidalgo. I can not find San Icantitla on a map; it must be a very small place.

We see again the mouth within a mouth design that I am labeling as a depiction of an ancient Aztec god, Xipe Totec.

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In their book Máscaras (1981, pages 86 and 87), Jaled Muyaes and Estela Ogazón wrote of the masks worn in the Danza de los Xantolos—”The masks are of two different types. The so-called primitive masks are characterized by painted features, geometric incisions representing wrinkles and an open mouth displaying teeth and gums. The more elaborate masks are characterized by their anthropomorphic realism and fine workmanship. They are small, disproportionate, some painted and others left unpainted.” Those authors included a photo of one of the geometric masks (Plate 17). Last week’s post featured masks from the “more elaborate” category, while today’s discussion will focus on the “primitive” or geometric masks. There is actually a third category, masks with novel designs, some of which would be described as primitive after all, and probably a fourth that consists of masks borrowed from other dances. Here is one of those geometric masks.

I purchased this Viejo mask and the next from Dinah Gaston in 2002. It is from Huehuetla, Hidalgo.

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