Lot 267C
Latin America, Mexico, Guerrero, ca. mid-20th century CE. A lively trio of carved and painted wood dance masks, each face a character caught mid-performance, their bold forms and expressive features shaped for movement, rhythm, and spectacle. The surfaces retain layers of hand-applied pigment - deep reds, ochres, blacks, and flashes of green - worn and softened by use, with pierced apertures and cord attachments that once secured them tightly as dancers stepped, stamped, and turned in ritual choreography. In Guerrero and neighboring regions, such masks transform the wearer into figures drawn from folklore, animals, spirits, and satirical human types, part of a long tradition where performance becomes a living theater of belief and communal memory. Size of largest (feline): 6.4" W x 9.5" H (16.3 cm x 24.1 cm)
The mask adorned with an owl-like creature likely represents a Corcovi or related nocturnal bird figure, associated with dances such as the Danza de los Viejos, where owls can serve as symbolic messengers of the night. Another mask features a boldly carved tiger - more accurately a jaguar in Mesoamerican tradition - emerging across the face, a powerful emblem of strength, danger, and transformation long embedded in Indigenous cosmology. The central mask, with wide, almost startled eyes and a parted mouth, carries a more human, theatrical expression, completing the trio with a figure that bridges animal symbolism and human character. Together, the group captures the playful and layered spirit of mid-20th century Mexican folk performance - at once humorous, ceremonial, and deeply symbolic - where dancers do not merely wear masks, but become them, embodying stories that shift between the human and the mythic.
Provenance: private Louisville, Colorado, USA collection
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#202319
- Condition: Expected age wear with nicks, minor chips, and abrasion. Otherwise, intact and excellent with good pigments and detail. Patinas to surfaces commensurate with age.
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| $5,000 | $9,999 | $500 |
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