Lot 796

Mexican Painted Wood Jaguar Mask - Tlacololeros Dance, Guerrero

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Lot 796
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Mexican Painted Wood Jaguar Mask - Tlacololeros Dance, Guerrero
Mexican Painted Wood Jaguar Mask - Tlacololeros Dance, Guerrero
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Mexican Painted Wood Jaguar Mask - Tlacololeros Dance, Guerrero

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Current Bid: $400

(1 Bid)
by Artemis Fine Arts
July 30, 2026 8:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Mexico, Guerrero, Nahua, ca. 1970–2010 CE. A carved wooden jaguar face bares its snarling maw beneath a coat of feline markings. The pelt is rendered in scaled crescents and stippled dots of yellow, over which a wash of black has been laid to darken the muzzle, brow, and crown, lending the beast a shadowed ferocity. Ringed eyes stare outward, upright ears flare with rose-red interiors, and pale carved fangs curve down from the upper jaw. A supple leather tongue lolls from the open, red-rimmed mouth, painted to lively effect. Worn in the danza de los Tlacololeros, a Guerrero dance-drama in which highland corn farmers pursue and subdue a marauding jaguar, the mask animates the tigre at the story's heart, transforming its wearer into the quarry of the hunt. Size: 8" W x 10.5" H x 5.75" D (20.3 cm W x 26.7 cm H x 14.6 cm D).

Attributed to Olinala, Guerrero, a town long celebrated for its lacquered and painted woodwork. The mask belongs to the danza de los Tlacololeros, among the oldest folk dances of Guerrero, with roots that predate the Spanish conquest. Performed at Easter, the Day of the Holy Cross (May 3), patron-saint feasts, and Christmas Eve, the dance dramatizes the efforts of tlacololeros, farmers of the state's rugged mountain slopes, to protect their crops and livestock from a predatory jaguar. Eight to fourteen dancers perform to flute and drum, aided by the perra maravilla, the "wonder dog" that helps track and capture the beast. The farmers then discipline the jaguar with braided whips (chirriones), stopping short of killing it. Related jaguar-masking traditions extend along the Costa Chica and into Chiapas and Guatemala, spanning Nahua, Amuzgo, Mixtec, Tlapanec, and Maya communities, including the noted Tigres de Zitlala.

Provenance: private Las Vegas, Nevada, USA collection

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Item # 203690

  • Condition: Some minor wear with small chips to paint and light fraying to tongue. Areas of old, inactive insect holes to verso. Otherwise, intact and excellent with impressive remaining pigments and detail.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $749 $25
$750 $1,499 $50
$1,500 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $7,499 $250
$7,500 $14,999 $500
$15,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000