Lot 240
** A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this lot will benefit The Fowler Museum at UCLA **
Europe, Austria, Tyrol, late 19th to early 20th century CE. A finely carved, gessoed, and painted Durer (or Krampus mask) depicting a gruesome devil used in the Perchtenlaufen, a traditional folk play in the Tyrol region of Austria that goes back to the 17th century. This particular mask depicts an elongated, dark grey face with an expressive visage comprised of bulging eyes with holes for the wearer to see, a protruding and relatively naturalistic looking nose with openwork nostrils, an overhanging, wrinkled forehead with arching black brows, a pair of separately carved, attached pointy, red long ears that are knotched at the peripheries, erect black horns, and a grimacing red-lipped mouth with jagged, white teeth framed by a thick black mustache and beard. The Perchtenlaufen has customarily involved two groups of local women who engage in an altercation involving sticks and canes. Each group is comprised of masked individuals. In accordance with this Alpine folk art tradition, the masks fall into two categories, the "beautiful" and the "ugly" Perchte. Clearly, this piece falls under that "ugly" umbrella occupied by witches and devils featured in these theatrical plays of Tyrol, Austria. An exceedingly rare and intriguing example! Size: 18" L x 11" W (45.7 cm x 27.9 cm)
For further reading on this fascinating subject, see Hans Peter Duerr (1985) [1978]. "Dreamtime: Concerning the Boundary between Wilderness and Civilization." Felicitas Goodman (translator). Oxford and New York: Blackwell and Carlo Ginzburg (1983) [1966]. "The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries." John and Anne Tedeschi (translators). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Provenance: Ex-private Morgan collection, Santa Monica, CA.
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#114564
- Condition: Surface wear commensurate with age and use. Minor paint losses and possible old repairs where ears and horns join the rest of the mask. Surface crack over left eyebrow. The gap in the teeth is intentional. No missing teeth. Incredible patina.
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