Offered in this lot is a Mexican Negrito Carved Wood Dance Mask, circa early-Mid 20th C. Provenance: Private collection, Big Sky, Montana. Masks in Mexico are used in a wide variety of dance, ceremony, festivals and theatre, with their wearing not separate from the event in which they are used. The most common uses are with traditional dances, which are a form of theater, with characters, storyline and music, but the performers are not professionals. The use of masks and costumes was an important part of Mesoamerican cultures for long before the arrival of the Spanish. A number of dances in several parts of Mexico include or feature masks imitating African or black faces. These have their origins with the importation of African slaves by the Spanish. These slaves had contact with the indigenous peoples, often as intermediaries between them and the Spanish overlords. This experience was incorporated in indigenous dances, with the dancers called “negritos” (little black ones). Negrito masks vary by region. Those from the Costa Chica region of Oaxaca and Guerrero have realistic or exaggerated features, and other from the Sierra de Juarez of Oaxaca are more primitive with small tusks protruding from the mouth. Those from Michoacán have fine features and a gentle expression. In the colonial period, blacks had a wide range of occupations so this was portrayed in dances. Although most of the Africans intermarried with the rest of the population, the masks remain. Hand-carved, hand-painted polychromed natural hardwood sculpture. Overall condition is good, remains of old paint observed underneath. Measures 14"L x 7.75"W x 4.25"D