Goat Pascola mask

Potam, Sonora

7 ¾ Inches, painted wood (cottonwood root), cowtail hairs. Undanced.

Undanced but showing signs of age, this mask was carved by a Yoeme/Yaqui carver, Inez Cheto Alvarez, probably in the mid to late 1980’s. He is still alive, but no longer carving masks due to failing vision.

Cheto was a prolific carver over a period of decades. Like many other Yoeme carvers of his generation, Cheto made masks in new forms, not just the traditional human face or the goat face. He also introduced a wider color palate. Hot pink and bright blue were used alongside the usual red, white and black. For a number of years I did not know the identity of this carver, and I called his masks Rio Yaqui Polychrome.

Another distinguishing factor was the forehead cross, Cheto used modern variations such as the one on this mask. Like some other Yaqui master carvers, Cheto laid out the designs on the faces of his mask with incised lines which he carved with a knife, then he would fill in the spaces with color.

Finally there is the tongue. Many of Cheto’s masks have this relief-carved tongue, either hanging from the side of the mouth, or over the front lip. This feature gives his masks a humorous appearance which I have always liked. More on Pascola masks.

$250