Devil Mask

Supay mask; used in the diablada dance performances, during the Virgin of Candelaria feast days. For the people of the Andes, metals were considered "like the harvests, products of the earth", and to extract them, in the colonial period and today, a prospective miner or speculator must be prepared to make a contract with their proprietor. There were various proprietors throughout the centuries, with Supay, also identified as Apo Parato, appearing around 1650. Miners made offerings of chicha, feathers, and diminutive wax effigies for Supay; they hoped for clothes, silver, and food in return. In many of his depictions, Supay has a large erect phallus and can return a miner's lost virility. He has an intimidating and belittling attitude to his supplicants, and the minerals hidden in his cavernous world are often though to be false riches. He is associated with the remaking of the world after the Spanish invasion; also associated with sickness and death.

Large devil mask of red and yellow painted tin. Mask has two split-end horns, a golden crown and a large dragon at the top. The nose’s four high ridges are edged with gold beads. The bulging eyeballs have reflective plastic red pupils surrounded by a chain of golden beads. The eyes are also edged with a red feather garland. The large flame-like ears are decorated with lines of golden beads. Each of the mask’s two horns splits at the middle into two points, each topped with a rubber triangle. The edges of the horns are red. The top of the head has four stud-trimmed wavy triangles. The middle two have red plastic discs and all four have gold bead trim. The five-point crown is gold with a red front panel and a beaded trim. A winged yellow dragon rises up from the centre of the crown. It has a short pronged tongue and red plastic eyes. The wings, ears, and eyes of the dragon are decorated with golden beads.