Mask and flute

Museum number:
3-28413
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21030028413
Accession number:
Acc.3496
Description:
Mask with horn. (a) mask, anthropomorphic male; carved from light wood, stained dark and rubbed inside and out with red ochre; rough hewn from section of log. Features asymmetrical with two eyes on right and one on left; nose askew, mouth represented by hole in projecting chin area; incised lines in chin to represent beard; decoration on mask is of three kinds: incised crescent moon, with face, sun with face and radiating lines; low relief flower on forehead; and full relief figures, a deer head and two rabbits attached to the mask with iron wire or nails. Affixed to top of mask is a carved wooden spool-like wood piece; method of attachment unclear. height 43 cm., width 24 cm. (b) horn, probably cow, smoothed and polished then stained dark; series of 6 holes drilled for fingerholes; tip cut off and hole cut to make hollow; hollowed tip then fits into mouth hole. 33 cm. long.
Donor:
Mrs. Walter Seeley
Collection place:
Oaxaca, Mexico
Verbatim coll. place:
Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca
Culture or time period:
Zapotec
Collector:
Eleanor F. Sleight
Collection date:
1973-1978
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Musical instruments
Department:
Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean area
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Mask and flute, accession number 3-28413, described as Mask with horn. (a) mask, anthropomorphic male; carved from light wood, stained dark and rubbed inside and out with red ochre; rough hewn from section of log. Features asymmetrical with two eyes on right and one on left; nose askew, mouth represented by hole in projecting chin area; incised lines in chin to represent beard; decoration on mask is of three kinds: incised crescent moon, with face, sun with face and radiating lines; low relief flower on forehead; and full relief figures, a deer head and two rabbits attached to the mask with iron wire or nails. Affixed to top of mask is a carved wooden spool-like wood piece; method of attachment unclear. height 43 cm., width 24 cm. (b) horn, probably cow, smoothed and polished then stained dark; series of 6 holes drilled for fingerholes; tip cut off and hole cut to make hollow; hollowed tip then fits into mouth hole. 33 cm. long.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Mask and flute, accession number 3-28413, described as Mask with horn. (a) mask, anthropomorphic male; carved from light wood, stained dark and rubbed inside and out with red ochre; rough hewn from section of log. Features asymmetrical with two eyes on right and one on left; nose askew, mouth represented by hole in projecting chin area; incised lines in chin to represent beard; decoration on mask is of three kinds: incised crescent moon, with face, sun with face and radiating lines; low relief flower on forehead; and full relief figures, a deer head and two rabbits attached to the mask with iron wire or nails. Affixed to top of mask is a carved wooden spool-like wood piece; method of attachment unclear. height 43 cm., width 24 cm. (b) horn, probably cow, smoothed and polished then stained dark; series of 6 holes drilled for fingerholes; tip cut off and hole cut to make hollow; hollowed tip then fits into mouth hole. 33 cm. long.

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