Mask Item Number: 2655/187 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Human-faced mask with pink-red ears and face. Head hair, eyebrows and mustache are carved with deep grooves and are gold in colour. The eyes are inset with glass and painted black and blue and there are two holes on either side of the top of nose. Fibre cording is attached to a hole just above each ear and is tied behind the mask.
History Of Use
Mask used in the Dance of the Conquest, in Guatemala. In the Dance, King K'iche learns from Motecuhzoma that his empire is about to be destroyed by foreigners wielding magical weapons. His sons recommend resistance and go to Quetzaltenango to warn Tecum. King K'iche tells Tecum and the other chiefs that he has dreamed Motecuhzoma has been murdered and the same fate awaits him. Tecum promises to defeat the enemy. Ambassadors meet but Tecum rejects the Spaniards demand that his Indigenous followers be baptized. Next, Tecum narrates a dream where, in battle, he turns into an eagle and attacked the Spanish three times until he fell and his heart was split in two; he saw a dove leading the triumphant Spanish army. The real battles begins and Tecum is killed by Alvarado. Tecum's successor, Zunum, stops the battle and has Tecum buried in the mountain, while King K'iche declares he has had a dream in which the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, has convinced him to be baptized.
Item History
- Made in Guatemala before 1980
- Owned by Alfred H. Siemens before August 17, 2005
- Received from Alfred H. Siemens (Donor) on August 17, 2005
What
Who
- Culture
- Guatemalan
- Previous Owner
- Alfred H. Siemens
- Received from
- Alfred H. Siemens (Donor)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Guatemala
When
- Creation Date
- before 1980
- Ownership Date
- before August 17, 2005
- Acquisition Date
- on August 17, 2005
Other
- Condition
- good
- Current Location
- Case 92
- Accession Number
- 2655/0187