Devil King Mask Item Number: 2946/17 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Devil king mask with a black face, silver crown and two large, twisting, multi-coloured horns. The mouth has large, spiked, white teeth. Two fangs project upwards from the corners of the mouth. The curling nostrils fade from yellow to orange. The four ridges on top of the nose are decorated with a studded golden trim. The cheeks have high, curved ridges. There are two large, protruding eyes with irises that fade from dark blue to white. Above the eyes there are large, bulbous eyebrows which extend to the sides of the mask. At the top of the face are four large, wavy, green and yellow triangles with studded golden trim. The flame-shaped ears are multicoloured. The five-point crown is silver on the outside and a light blue on the inside. Silver glitter is attached throughout, but particularly on the forehead, eyebrows and nose, with golden glitter on the cheeks. There are triangular rubber tips affixed to the end of each horn.
History Of Use
Supay mask; used in the diablada dance performances, during the Virgin of Candelaria feast days. For the people of the Andes, metals were considered "like the harvests, products of the earth", and to extract them, in the colonial period and today, a prospective miner or speculator must be prepared to make a contract with their proprietor. There were various proprietors throughout the centuries, with Supay, also identified as Apo Parato, appearing around 1650. Miners made offerings of chicha, feathers, and diminutive wax effigies for Supay; they hoped for clothes, silver, and food in return. In many of his depictions, Supay has a large erect phallus and can return a miner's lost virility. He has an intimidating and belittling attitude to his supplicants, and the minerals hidden in his cavernous world are often though to be false riches. He is associated with the remaking of the world after the Spanish invasion; also associated with sickness and death.
Narrative
Purchased from a festival mask rental shop in Puno. (Same maker as mask 2946/5.)
Item History
- Made in Puno, Puno, Peru during 2000
- Collected by Anthony A. Shelton during February 2012
- Owned by Anthony A. Shelton before March 12, 2012
- Received from Anthony A. Shelton (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Exhibitions Budget (Funding source) on March 12, 2012
What
Who
- Culture
- Peruvian
- Field Collector
- Anthony A. Shelton
- Previous Owner
- Anthony A. Shelton
- Received from
- Anthony A. Shelton (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Exhibitions Budget (Funding source)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Puno, Puno, Peru
When
- Creation Date
- during 2000
- Collection Date
- during February 2012
- Ownership Date
- before March 12, 2012
- Acquisition Date
- on March 12, 2012
Other
- Item Classes
- metalwork
- Condition
- good
- Accession Number
- 2946/0017