Uncanny Artist Ephemera and Objects for Artists and Collectors
  • Mexican or Guatemalan Hand Carved Mask of a Face with Fangs and Frog

    $45.00
    There is only 1 item left in stock.

    This is an unpainted Mexican or Guatemalan Hand Carved Mask of a Face with Fangs and Frog, which measures 8" high by 6.75" wide by 5" deep.  The face shows: deep-set eye ringed eyeholes with large teardrop-shaped holes above the interior corners; a bulbous nose with small openings, a small; closed mouth from which extends two snake-like teeth; large abstractly carved ears; a small forehead covered by a frog with curved legs and simple arms which extend to become the border of what appears to be a feather headdress.  There are three holes (at the base of the frog and one above the inside of each ear which holds a thin braided brown-black cord.  Some of the features (round eyes, serpent fangs, frog, and feather headdress) are characteristics of the Aztec god, Tlaloc.  Tlaloc was an important and formidable god of rain, lightning, agriculture and fertility.  He was seen as both benevolent and destructive, requiring human sacrifices (usually children).   It is possible that this mask represents this god.  The mask is unmarked.  Maker, country of origin, age, and type of wood are unknown. This Mexican or Guatemalan Hand Carved Mask with Fangs and Frog is in Good condition. There is a discolored crack along the bottom of the right ear which has a nail driven into it.  There are also two nails below the chin (which may have held some material to the mask), one of which has caused a crack primarily inside the mask.  Neither crack affects the integrity of the mask.