Antique Mexican Mask Paper Mache Guerrero Mexico Dance Mask 1900

Description

Large Paper Mache Devil Mask see picture for size and condition.  It is in excellent condition.
Paper mache sculptures are one of Mexico's most traditional art forms, originating back in the Spanish colonial days of the 1600s. It was, at first, a means of making inexpensive yet durable objects for use in various ceremonies of the Catholic church. The craft was most developed in central Mexico. In cities such as Mexico City and Celaya, particular families took up the trade, adapting and developing it for new uses, down through the generations. Like other forms of Mexican Folk Art, the raw materials are plentiful and inexpensive. Paper mache artwork is generated with scrap paper and cardboard - old newspapers and boxes, discarded manilla wrapping paper. What is of most value is priceless: the artist's talent, drive and creativity.
Many of Mexico's paper mache artists work with a simple, age-old recipe of torn strips of discarded paper, soaked in a soup of flour and water. The recipe is simply two parts water to one part flour, whisked until it is the consistency of pancake batter. Artists soak the bits of paper in this goopy paste until the paper is droopy and wet. Depending on the object to be made, a mask for example, the artist uses a ceramic mold and presses multiple small, saturated strips of paper into the greased mold. The strips are applied over-lapping each other and smoothed down to form a packed layer. The usual process is three layers of pressed paper, allowing 24 hours of drying time between each.