Malinche mask

Guatemala

8 inches, painted wood

She is a princess in the royal family of King Quiche and becomes the translator for Cortez. Malinche is proficient in several indigenous languages, as well as Spanish. The conquistadores would have never conquered the Aztecs without her assistance. She is said to have married Cortez, at which time her name was changed to Dona Marina. A truly complex character, Guatemalans consider her as both the heroic mother of all Mestizos... and a traitor to her people.

However, an expert on Guatemalan folk art says... "This may or may not be Malinche.  A problem always exists with old masks of young men that are often turned into Malinches by giving them spit curls and blush, presumably to be pressed to emergency use as Convites, and then they are allowed new life as Malinches in Baile de la Conquista.  I also think it is wrong to say Malinche was the daughter of the Quiche King.  She was more likely a Southern Tabasco or Campeche Mayan enslaved by tribes that paid tribute to the Aztecs.  She must in any case have been a lowland Mayan rather than from the Quiche highland tribe."

$345