About Mexican Mask Collection
The masks found on this web site represent items collected over the last 20 years. As an ethnographer seeking indigenous textiles I was/am often in regions with a history of mask usage. With few exceptions, all of the masks were personally collected by me in the field. Some have been acquired directly by the artists. Most of the older masks, the artisans who made them now deceased, were acquired in the towns were they were used. Provenance and history is provided to buyers along with any additional information I was able to obtain during the acquisition. I do not buy masks from other dealers and/or galleries such as abound in places like Puerto Vallarta, Taxco, San Miguel Allende, Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City. Most of the "old" masks have been intentionally aged by applying acids, fake patinas etc., - that one finds in these places. This has been going on since the 1960's when a market for old masks was developed. Nor do I acquire masks from sites like Ebay which for the most part offers masks which have been acquired from the aforementioned galleries and locations. It has become quite popular to assign exaggerated dates to masks, the goal obviously being to increase their desirability and value.