The mask is an object worn over or in front of the face to hide the identity of a person and by its own features to establish another being. This essential characteristic of hiding and revealing personalities or moods is common to all masks. As cultural objects they have been used throughout the world in all periods and have been as varied in appearance as in their use and symbolism. Many top design colleges in Nashik teach students about the history of masks to help them appreciate the evolution of masks over the centuries.
Masks have been designed in innumerable varieties, from the simplest of crude “False Faces” held by a handle to complete head coverings with ingenious movable parts and hidden faces. Among the substances utilised are woods, metals, shells, fibbers, ivory, clay, horn, stone, feathers, leather, furs, paper, cloth, and cornhusks. With few exceptions, the morphological elements of the mask derive from natural forms. Masks with human features are classified as anthropomorphic and those with animal characteristics as theriomorphic. Masks usually represent supernatural beings, ancestors, and fanciful or imagined figures, and can also be portraits.
The Wearing of Masks
Disguise masks were used in the early Stone Age in stalking prey and later to house the slain animal’s spirit in the hope of placating it. The traditional animal masks worn by the “Altaic” and “Tungusic” shamans in Siberia are strictly close to such prehistoric examples as the image of the so-called wizard in the Cave of Les Trois Frères in Ariège, France.
The wearer of a mask is considered to be in direct association with the spent force o me in ask and is consequently exposed to personal danger of being affected by it. For his protection, the wearer is required to follow certain sanctioned procedures in his use of the mask. He plays the role of an actor in cooperation or collaboration with the mask. Without his performing dance and posturing routines, which are often accompanied with music, the mask would remain a representation without a full life force. After putting on the mask, the wearer undergoes a psychic change and as in a trance assumes the spirit character depicted by the mask.
There could be many examples from different civilisations where a variety of masks were used for social and religious reasons through centuries. However, we will significantly mention the following.
Theatrical Masks
Masks have been used almost universally to represent characters in theatrical performances. The mask as a dramatic device first emerged in Western Civilisation from the religious practices of Ancient Greece. In the worship of Dionysus, God of fertility and the harvest, the communicants’ attempt to impersonate the divinity by donning goatskins and by imbibing wine eventually developed into the sophistication of masking. When a literature of worship appeared, a disguise, which consisted of a white linen mask hung over the face (a device supposedly initiated by Thespis, a 6th-century-BC poet who is credited with originating tragedy), enabled the leaders of the ceremony to make the god manifest. Thus, symbolically identified, the communicant was inspired to speak in the first person, thereby giving birth to the art of drama.
Greek Tragedy Mask:- In Ancient Greece the progress from ritual to ritual-drama was continued in highly formalised theatrical representations (5th century BC). Heavily coiffured and of a size to enlarge the actor’s presence, the Greek mask seems to have been designed to throw the voice by means of a built-in megaphone device and, by exaggeration of the features, to make clear at a distance the precise nature of the character. Moreover, their use made it possible for the Greek actors-who were limited by convention to three speakers for each tragedy-to impersonate a number of different characters during the play simply by changing masks and costumes.
Middle Ages:- In the Middle Ages, masks were used in the mystery plays of the 12th to the 16th century. In plays dramatising portions of the Old and New Testaments, grotesques of all sorts, such as devils, demons, dragons, and personifications of the seven deadly sins, were brought to stage life by the use of masks.
Renaissance:-The 15th-century Renaissance in Italy witnessed the rise of a theatrical phenomenon that spread rapidly to France, to Germany, and to England, where it maintained its popularity into the 18th century. Comedies improvised from scenarios based upon the domestic dramas of the ancient Roman comic playwrights “Plautus” (254-184 BC) and Terence (186/185-159 BC) and upon situations drawn from anonymous ancient Roman mimes flourished under the title of Commedia dell’ Arte.
Masks and Death
Egypt:-In ancient Egypt the funerary mask served to guide the spirit of the deceased back to its final resting place in the body. They were made of cloth covered with stucco or plaster, which was then painted. For more important personages, silver and gold were used. Among the most splendid examples of the burial portrait mask is the one created for the pharaoh “Tutankhamen” (c. 1350 BC).
Ancient Greece :-In Mycenaean tombs of c. 1400 BC, beaten gold portrait masks were found. The characteristics of the faces weren’t portrayed realistically but they tried to show the age and the personality. All masks were male with closed eyes. A great sample of the Mycenae Civilisation is the funerary gold mask of “Agamemnon” (1580-1500 В.С.)
Ancient Rome :-In Ancient Roman burials, a mask resembling the deceased was often placed over his face or was worn by an actor hired to accompany the funerary cortege to the burial site. In patrician families these masks or images were sometimes preserved as ancestor portraits and were displayed on ceremonial occasions. Such masks were usually modelled over the features of the dead and cast in wax.
Masks Today
The “No” drama of Japan has remained a significant part of national life since its beginnings in the 14th century. “No” masks, of which there are about 125 named varieties, are rigidly traditional and are classified into five general types: old persons (male and female), gods, goddesses, devils, and goblins. The material is wood with a coating of plaster, which is lacquered and gilded. Colours are traditional. White is used to characterise a corrupt ruler, red signifies a righteous man; the villain, who epitomises violence and brutality, wears a black mask. “No” masks are highly stylised and generally characterised. They are exquisitely carved by highly respected artists known as “tenka-ichi”, “the first under heaven.” Shades of feeling are portrayed with beautifully sublimated realism. When the masks are subtly moved by the player’s hand or body motion, their expression appears to change.
In the Indian state of Sikkim (Northeast of India) and in Bhutan, where wood is abundant and the damp climate is destructive to paper, they are carved of durable wood. All masks of the Himalayan peoples are fantastically painted and are usually provided with wigs of “yak” tail in various colours.
On the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali, the wooden masks, “tupeng”, are used in certain theatrical performances called “wayang wong”. These dances dramas developed from the shadow puppet plays of the 18th century and are performed not only as amusement but also as a safeguard against calamities.
Conclusion
Masks have been relevant to different cultures and regions since the beginning of time. As we study the history of masks we can marvel at the fact that masks have greatly evolved over time. Studying the history of masks is always a fascinating exercise for design students pursuing B.Des. in Product Design. While masks are still relevant in the modern world, they have lost their mysterious component over the centuries. Still, we cannot dismiss the importance of masks over time.