Add a unique piece of Mexican art to your collec4on with this new Jaguar helmet mask.
This beautiful mask is from the state of Guerrero, Mexico, where jaguars are called “tigers”. It is in the form of a helmet, is made of leather, and is handmade and hand painted. It has a large mouth of pointy teeth, a long tongue, eyes made of mirrors, and is studded with wild boar hair. It is in its original state without modifications. It is signed by the artist and would be an excellent addition to any home or office. For more information about this type of mask, see Donald Bush Cordry’s Mexican Masks (1980, University of Texas Press).
The Dance of the Tigers (Jaguars), or the Fight of the Tigers, is a rite performed to encourage rain and is common in Nahua localities in the central region of the state of Guerrero, such a Alcátlan and Zitala. Large numbers of local people participate in this feline dance dressed like tigers; they box and snap at each other. The impressive ceremony is traditionally celebrated around the Feast of the Holy Cross, between May 2 and May 5 and is intended to provoke the clouds to rain on the cornfields. The contenders fight fiercely because, according to a Nahua proverb, “the more blood the ti gers shed, the more rain there will be for the germination of the seeds.”
Measurements: 12 19/32” (32 cm) high, 11 39/64” (29.5 cm) wide, and 9 27/32” ( 25 cm ) deep.
Weight: 1.85 lb. (0.84 kg).
Please see the photos and thank you for your interest.