Catalog #300150

Danza De Los Negritos

 Dance Mask

with Headdress

circa 1980

  mask 6w x 9h

headdress 10w x 65h ( with telas )

Collected in 1993

Ocomichu, Michoacan, Mexico

 $2800.00

This hand carved and painted mask is an exceptional example of masks worn for the dance and parade of "Los Negritos" performed in Michoacan.  The colorful headdress is crowned with tinsel garlands, beads, and shiny paper cones, and festooned with multi-colored "telas" or ribbons that hang down to the wearers knees.

The Negritos dance grew out of religious brotherhoods of blacks dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  During the dance, participants parade through village streets, singing and reciting verses in honor of saints, the virgin and child, and paying homage to village elders.