The very interesting mask of wood shown on pl. VII is in the Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum in Rome. It is one of the best preserved pieces in Europe, and its history is known as far back as 1553. It was purchased for the Museum by Giglioli from Cosimo de Medici for two and a half francs. It was first illustrated in colors by Pigorini,[90] and our illustration is from a photograph just received from Rome through the kindness of Dr. S. K. Lothrop. The specimen is 11 inches high and 5⅜ inches broad, being the tallest mosaic mask that has thus far come to light. It represents a human face placed in what appears to be the flat open jaws of a snake or an animal, a common motive in Middle American art. The back of the mask is flat, and there are ovate openings for the eyes. From the nose hangs an ornament of a type familiar in central Mexico. Over the forehead appear what seem to be raised twined bodies of serpents, and from the left of the upper part of the face projects the plumed head of a serpent. We are unable to say if the head of the other snake once projected from the opposite side of the mask, but it seems impossible that the artist would have made this elaborate piece so symmetrical. From Dr. Lothrop’s notes it appears that the turquois around the sides is of a slightly faded color, but the major portion is brilliant and glistening. The materials used are turquois, pink shell, white shell, mother-of-pearl, jadeite (for the facial lumps), and a dull-black stone. This remarkable piece is a veritable work of art, and from the serpent motive we would class it as a Quetzalcoatl mask.
PL. XXIII
SHIELD OF WOOD WITH MOSAIC DECORATION
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION, NEW YORK
The other mask in Rome (pl. VIII) was illustrated as early as 1648. This illustration, and the one published by Pigorini (fig. 15), are front views. Our plate, from a photograph taken for Dr. Lothrop, is a sideview presenting interesting features which are not revealed in the illustrations hitherto published. The materials employed are turquois, malachite, pink shell, white shell, mother-of-pearl, an unidentifiable black stone, and garnet. The edges of the orbits and the protruding tongue are painted red, while the fangs are painted white. On the side of the face, below the right eye, is the head of an alligator, in the neck of which is set a garnet. Attention is called also to the peculiar nose and the curling tongue. A considerable portion of the mosaic is lost. This mask is larger than the masks in London and New York, being 8⅝ inches high, with an extreme length, including the protruding tongue, of 11 inches. Dr. Lothrop writes that in his description Pigorini has done scant justice to this remarkable piece.
On pls. IX to XVI are illustrated the series of masks from the cave recently discovered in Mexico, which are in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. They fall into two classes, those on pls. IX to XII being ornamented with turquois mosaic, and so nearly alike in workmanship that they might well be the product of one artist, while the masks on pls. XIII to XV are different in character, the mosaic pieces being larger and coarser, and considerable stone other than turquois was employed in the decoration. They are all in a damaged condition and lack the chin. All the mosaic incrustations are set in a bed of gum.
Fig. 15
The best-preserved specimen is illustrated in colors on pl. IX; it is 7½ inches high, and 6¾ inches wide. Bands of light and dark turquois will be observed on the forehead and temples. Around the lower margin of the face is a band of blackish to dark-brown stones. On the sides of the mask are two large black discs made of a composition resembling charcoal and sticky clay. This substance is present in a number of the other masks, and we venture the conjecture that it may be the material used by the goldsmiths in modeling figures to be cast in gold. Sahagun describes it as follows: