Sunday, September 23, 2007

Some masks from my collection



These are a couple of my favorites. I believe they are American,
and were part of a hear no evil,see no evil set. I never did locate
the speak no evil mask.

An Indonesian bird of prey mask. The beaks sticks out about
one foot from the mask. It is ornately carved and painted.

These masks are not necessarily my favorites, but my favorites of those where I have photos. My favorite is a beautiful African mask purchased for me by Kevin Curran and Kris Kruse, followed by the three piece mask from Ceylon, and the large tin mask (both of which are pictured here).


I don't know where these three masks came from; I bought them as one lot on e-bay.
They seem likely to be American.


"Stink-eye" by the American outsider artist Audrey Leanza.
I also own a couple of her paintings. I bought this from her directly.


A leather mask. Probably American.

A Mexican mask of Fido.
I own 96 masks, of all sizes and shapes. Most of them are wooden, but about ten are steel or tin, two are ceramic, a Japanese one is made from some sort of paper mache, and one is made from leather.

This thin sheet metal mask has a great rust patina. It is two feet tall.

Maybe my second favorite mask, from Ceylon.
This is a very 3D mask, with removable ears.
The collection includes two vintage catcher's masks, one of which is 100 years old. The masks originate in Mexico, Thailand, Bali, Ceylon, Hawaii, Alaska, Japan, Indonesia, Ghana, Guatemala, Zimabwe, Chad, Senegal, and a few even come from the USA.
A japanese mask made from iron and painted green. This Buddha
weights about ten pounds.

The first mask I bought was at Pike Place Market-- a subtle, very geometric African mask from Ghana. I later started buying masks on our trips to Mexico, and also on eBay (which in the early days had many great masks at reasonable prices).
A horsehead, probably from Mexico. It has a mane
of horse-hair and a rope bridle.
---o0o---

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