Masks

Originally Published in 1947

Stone mask of a male face with curled beard and angry expression. — Stone mask from the walls of a Greek theatre. A replica of stylized masks commonly worn in Greek comedy.
Museum Object Number: 32-36-62
Image Number: 26366

A gold repousse mask. — Gold burial mask, Chimu kingdom, Peru.
Museum Object Number: SA2876

Mask from mummy of a woman, cartonnage, gilded & painted. — Cartonnage mask from the mummy case of an Egyptian woman.
Museum Object Number: E17632
Image Number: 31436

Circular mask with protruding painted face with thick unibrow and thin moustache. — Dance mask, Tlingit tribe, Southeastern Alaska.
Museum Object Number: NA6830
Image Number: 21181

Wood dance mask with slits for eyes and mouth; sharp pointed teeth; prominent chin; incised lines (scarification?) on forehead and upper lip; studded with brass-headed nails. — Dance mask, Masongo tribe, Angola, Africa.
Museum Object Number: 29-59-108
Image Number: 21235

Wooden mask of a very thin face. — Hyena mask, Baule tribe, Ivory Coast, Africa.

Wood mask with sharp chin and incised patterns with white paint. — Ceremonial mask, Bushongo tribe, Belgian Congo, Africa.
Museum Object Number: AF1879
Image Number: 21233

Highly finished and life-like figure head of deer with ear pieces accompanying. — Masquette excavated from ancient Indian site at Key Marco, Florida.
Museum Object Numbers: 40707A, 40707B, 40707C

Ceremonial mask, Melanesian people, New Ireland, South Pacific.
Museum Object Numbers: P4565A, P4565B, P4565C, P4565D

Cylindrical with wooden tab ears, with ten ear-pendants; red wool cruller mouth, painted with geometric shapes, basket-ring crown painted turquoise with red and white, fitted with raw cotton and with feather tufts. — Ceremonial mask. Zuni tribe, Pueblo lndians, New Mexico.
Museum Object Number: 22689

Mask made of leopard skin face with beaded ornamentation, plus shells. — Witch doctor’s mask, Bushongo tribe, Belgian Conqo, Africa.
Museum Object Number: AF54

Mask with the mouth open with representation of teeth and fringed all round with hair, and shell inlay eyeballs. — Ceremonial mask, Melanesian people, Sepik River, New Guinea, South Pacific.
Museum Object Numbers: 29-50-651A, 29-50-651B
Image Number: 239

Wooden mask with raffia hanging from around the base of mask; face of mask is of a light tan color with crescent shaped eyes, protruding triangular shaped nose with two nostrils, open mouth with carved teeth, dark brown carved hairline; crescent shaped piece protrudes from center of head; cross hatch pattern incised on rim of hair line; a type of animal is found on the top of head in center. — Ceremonial mask, Bayaka tribe, Belgian Congo, Africa.
Museum Object Number: AF1875
Image Number: 21232

Mask made of skin with fur still attached. — Ceremonial mask, Cherokee tribe, North Carolina.
Museum Object Number: 46-6-3

A wooden mask with skin around the eyes and bridge of the nose, a moustache and goatee and the eybrows are made of skin with brown fur on it. — The Weeping Man, Tlingit tribe, Klukwan, Alaska.
Museum Object Number: NA1242

Carved and painted wood mask with copper eyes and teeth, the tongue protruding. — Ghost mask, Tsimshian tribe, British Columbia, Canada.
Museum Object Number: NA8515

Life-size “mask” made from greenstone, mouth slightly open. — Stone mask, Toltec culture, Mexico.
Museum Object Number: 87-42-422

Oval disc with central seal's face: 3 circular hoops attached by 4 radii, 4 carved and painted flippers and 1 tail flap attached to disc, 2 fish pendant from outer hoop. — Ceremonial mask, Nunivak tribe of Eskimos, Nunivak Island, Alaska.
Museum Object Number: NA6384

Corn husk woven mask with eyebrows of black cloth, mustache and beard of horsehair. — Dance mask, Iroquois tribe, Ontario, Canada.
Museum Object Number: 38532
Image Number: 12981

Wooden mask with a bird biting a snake above the face. — Ceremonial mask, Yoruba tribe, Southern Nigeria, Africa.
Museum Object Number: AF2193
Image Number: 21234a

Cylindrical mask with two paddles as ears and a protruding nose or snout, a ring on top of the head, crescent painted decoration. — Ceremonial mask, Hano tribe, Pueblo Indians, Arizona.
Museum Object Number: 38717

Tall wooden mask with crest made of nine intertwined cobras, mask mouth open and bearing sharp teeth. — Ceremonial mask, Singalese people, Ceylon, India.

Two wooden masks with snub noses, furrowed brows, and barred teeth. — Theatrical masks, Japan.
Museum Object Numbers: 19866 / 19856
Image Number: 22329

Cite This Article

"Masks." Museum Bulletin XIII, no. 1 (November, 1947): 5-29. Accessed July 17, 2024. https://www.penn.museum/sites/bulletin/2995/

This digitized article is presented here as a historical reference and may not reflect the current views of the Penn Museum.

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