Painted blackface mask
date: label: Date
content: 20th century
name: label: Manufactured by
content: British Made Toys & Games, British
notes: label: Description
content: A painted blackface mask. The mask is constructed from two layers of cotton voile with and an internal layer of plaster cloth sandwiched in between that shapes the mask. The plaster cloth is white, the top layer is black cotton voile, and the bottom layer white cotton voile. Hood is black cotton voile. The facial features and ears of the mask are painted. The mask has large, prominent eyes that are stenciled white circles with blue irises and black pupils. There are eye holes at the center of each pupil. The eyebrows, eye wrinkles, and forehead lines are hand painted in white. There are two holes at the mask's nostrils and a semicircular opening at the mouth. The stenciled mouth is painted wide and red. The mask is bald and its ears protrude on either side. A black hood constructed from black cotton voile is attached to the back of the mask. Inside the mask is a white label with a manufacturer's logo, a bulldog with its front proper left paw wrapped around a flag attached to a pole. The flag and the front paws of the dog are draped over a white oval with black printed text inside the oval that reads [BRITISH MADE / TOYS & GAMES] across the top and the bottom and [TRADE MARK] printed in small type across the center.
label: Statement
content: Objects depicting racist and/or stereotypical imagery or language may be offensive and disturbing, but the NMAAHC aims to include them in the Collection to present and preserve the historical context in which they were created and used. Objects of this type provide an important historical record from which to study and evaluate racism.
place: label: Place made
content: England, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Blackface
label: Topic
content: Caricature and cartoons
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Costume
label: Topic
content: Stereotypes
label: Topic
content: Theatre
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Racist and Stereotypical Objects
label: Classification
content: Clothing - Costume
label: Exhibition
content: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2007.7.228.1
objectType: label: Type
content: masks (costume)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown - Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: cotton (textile) with plaster and paint
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (Overall): 19 3/16 × 9 × 8 7/16 in. (48.8 × 22.8 × 21.5 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (Mask): 9 1/16 × 8 × 3 15/16 in. (23 × 20.3 × 10 cm)