Mask

Mask used in the Dance of the Conquest, in Guatemala. In the Dance, King K'iche learns from Motecuhzoma that his empire is about to be destroyed by foreigners wielding magical weapons. His sons recommend resistance and go to Quetzaltenango to warn Tecum. King K'iche tells Tecum and the other chiefs that he has dreamed Motecuhzoma has been murdered and the same fate awaits him. Tecum promises to defeat the enemy. Ambassadors meet but Tecum rejects the Spaniards demand that his Indigenous followers be baptized. Next, Tecum narrates a dream where, in battle, he turns into an eagle and attacked the Spanish three times until he fell and his heart was split in two; he saw a dove leading the triumphant Spanish army. The real battles begins and Tecum is killed by Alvarado. Tecum's successor, Zunum, stops the battle and has Tecum buried in the mountain, while King K'iche declares he has had a dream in which the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, has convinced him to be baptized.

Glossy red face with detailed hair and beard; protruding nose and beard; recessed eyes. Eyes are glass held in place by a resin or wax; mouth is closed. Eye holes at corners of eyes near bridge of nose.