Sierra de Puebla, State of Puebla, Mexico

7 Inches, painted wood

Huehue or Huehuetone male and female masks are danced in Totonac towns in the mountains of Puebla. This example is extremely typical of its type, with relief-carved hair, anatomically carved ears, and painted eyes under vision slits. A male Huehue mask usually has a painted or carved mustache, the same mask without a mustache would be female.

This mask has an elaborate applied mustache, which is nailed on, and the hair is grooved, which makes it seem even more stylish than the average Huehue mask. On the back, there is significant staining from use, maybe 10 years or more. Taking all this into account, I would say that this is a very nice and absolutely authentic mask. You can see a dance photo of a nearly identical mask in action in Luchuga and Sayer’s book, Mask Arts of Mexico, page 18.

$350