Yaqui Pascola masks

Joanna McMann <archmuse [at] hotmail__com> writes

>I am a Conservation student at Fleming College in Peterborough,
>Ontario and am writing a paper on Yaqui Pascola masks--how they are
>fabricated, what they are made from and their unique vulnerabilities
>and conservation concerns.

I think that the most accessible source in English with the broadest
information is the Donald Cordry book, Mexican Masks put out by the
University of Texas Press and edited by his wife Dorothy Mann Cordry
who was essentially an equal force in the collecting and the
development of materials that led to the book.  The book was aided
by a vast array of scholars and native workers and craftspeople. The
Foreword by Peter T. Furst is also a valuable guide to the book and
its use.  Yaqui masks are not a central focus of the book but
throughout one encounters a compendium of useful references and data
on the making of masks.

One must keep in mind that most such masks in the U.S. and other
collections abroad are those made for sale and their central
preservation problems often arise from the use of synthetic
materials or attempts to make masks look old or used. This is, of
course, my own perception from the conservation and restoration of
several hundred Mexican and other masks. Others may have different
experiences.

Niccolo Caldararo
Director and Chief Conservator
Conservation Art Service


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:39
                 Distributed: Friday, February 18, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-18-39-019
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