Monkey Mask of Unknown Origin
Possibly Guatemala
Probably 19th Century
8”h x 6”w x 4”d (20.3 cm high x 15.2 cm wide x 10.2 cm deep)
Much age, use, and patina with old vintage/indigenous touch-up repaintings. There are various edge chips and high points missing from use, an old pressure crack down forehead and probably once had glass eyes inset. Smaller than a human head, more like chimp-sized, with black hair/fur, white-flesh skin on cheeks and some light-brown-flesh skin on ears, light-green-grey on nose, rounded grin-like mouth and jaw and raw wood where eroded or chipped away.
Your thoughts, knowledge of masks and/or monkeys, informed opinions, and merely guesses on the origin/source/culture/carvers of this mask are welcomed and encouraged. Guatemala? Tribal Asia? Africa? Indonesia? S.E. Asia? Africa?Many of the world’s peoples and cultures have long found monkeys & chimpanzees fascinating — ever since 19th C. depictions in photos, newsreels, and in circuses & zoos – and many cultures have carved or created masks of monkeys.
Speculation, Confusion, Challenges: The former label opined: ‘Chimp Mask, Bamana, Mali’, BUT the former owner, Dante Oberon of Southern California, was an expert only on Pre-Columbian art.
The once-inlaid-glass eyes, the old oil-paint touch-ups, the size smaller than a human face, and the lack of similar comparisons in hundreds of recently photos searched online of masks of Africa, especially East Africa as two experts suggested, argue against Africa. But there ARE chimpanzees there.
Guatemalan masks OFTEN had inlaid glass eyes, they were about this size, and there ARE chimp-faced black howler monkeys (Mono Monkeys aka Mico Monkeys) there with somewhat chimp-like faces. BUT hundreds of Guatemalan masks studied in hand have almost always had very different adze marks carving out the back. The back-inside wood is almost always stained or oiled darker-redder brown. Lastly, a carver representing an infamously noisy and frightening Howler Monkey might be more likely to depict it howling horrifically through its sharply fanged, fearsome teeth.
Although a friend especially expert in Africa & Oceania encouraged research of the myriad monkey masks of Japan, hundreds of online photos showed nothing similar nor comparable.
Many of you have superior, extensive knowledge of tribal masks of Tribal Asia, S.E. Asian, Indonesia, Oceania, and no doubt other cultures. Please email guesses or smoking-gun photos to: gallerydavederoche@gmail.com
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