The house I am staying in has a few masks decorating the walls. There are 8 masks in 3 rooms, I believe. I thought it would be interesting to describe them. Here is the first one.
This is likely the first mask you would see. As you enter the house it is directly facing the front door. The mask is near the center of the wall of the dining area next to the door to the kitchen. It is placed at the height of top of the kitchen doorway. There is a bit of space around it, separating it from the other pieces on this wall. Also, there is another mask to the right of it near the corner. I’ll describe that mask another day.
This mask is carved from a single piece of wood, and it is old and worn. Most of its surface is rough wood, with some evidence that it was once painted or perhaps scorched or burned to darken it. The forehead is domed, almost a quarter of a sphere, and there are raised rings at the temples. Where the ears would be are two small holes on each side. Perhaps for ears, or perhaps for straps. I don’t know because I haven’t seen the back. The eyebrow is formed by a hard right angle cut that goes back to the plane of the face, where the eyes are. These are two circular bore holes close to the nose. The nose is narrow acute triangle that reaches to a rounded point. The nose also has a single small hole bored through, as though pierced. The lower part of the face descends and narrows smoothly to the chin. A small mouth is at the point of the chin below, forming an “o”. The mouth itself is chipped, no longer having a perfectly smooth o. Overall the mask is a fairly calm one with smooth lines and soft edges.
