Pinotepa de Don Luis, Oaxaca

4 ½ inches, painted wood

In a number of Mixtec towns along the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, including Pinotepa de Don Luis, the name Tejorones is most pointedly used to refer to a group of male dancers wearing tailored European style suits, conical feathered headdresses, and remarkably small pink-faced masks. The dancer’s face is otherwise hidden by a bandana, so that the illusion is created of odd looking giants. They carry gourd rattles which they shake with loud effect. They are said to represent Frenchmen. They are accompanied by Maria Candelaria, a figure wearing a nearly identical mask, except that there is no painted mustache or goatee, along with a native skirt and blouse (Huipil) and a cowboy hat.

The troupe is completed by a group of Viejos/Diablos, males with amusing wrinkled faces, with (diablos) or without (viejos) deer antler horns. These latter figures tend to behave in a bawdy manner, not unlike the style of the Negritos in neighboring towns. They drink too much, hunt a jaguar, womanize and otherwise behave badly.

Made by Miguel Soza who has been dead for 30-40 years. He was the main carver for the region in the middle of the last century. A great master carver, contemporary Mixtec carvers are modeling their masks on his designs. This mask has the age and finesse that one associates with Miguel himself-- and is a small masterpiece for the collector!

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