Blackface mask of a man wearing a top hat
date: label: Date
content: late 19th-mid 20th century
name: label: Created by
content: Unidentified
notes: label: Caption
content: This mask contains holes for the eyes, nose, and mouth, and a cavity large enough for a head, suggesting that the mask could have been worn. Masks of this type were worn during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
label: Description
content: Papier-mâché mask of a man in blackface wearing a gray top hat and a white dress shirt with popped collar and a blue necktie or neckerchief. The mask fits entirely over the wearer's head, resting on the wearer's shoulders. The face has brown eyes and red lips, with holes in the eyes, nostrils, and the open mouth. The bottom lip protrudes slightly further out that the top lip, and teeth are painted along the top inside the lip. The back of the head is molded into close-cropped curly hair and painted the same shade of true black as the face. The sides of the gray top hat are slightly upturned and there is shellac or another shiny finish painted around the bottom crown as a hat band. The neck of the man is covered up, with an upturned white dress shirt collar and a blue necktie or neckerchief at the center front of the bottom edge of the mask. The interior of the mask is not lined, so the plain brown paper used is visible. There is a piece of corrugated cardboard placed in the front of the interior brim of the hat between the interior forehead and the interior front crown of the hat. There are no labels or marks.
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.
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: Minstrel (Music)
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Liljenquist Family Collection
label: Classification
content: Racist and Stereotypical Objects
label: Classification
content: Clothing - Costume
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Liljenquist Family Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2016.166.33
objectType: label: Type
content: masks (costume)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: paint, paper, and adhesive
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 14 3/4 × 8 1/4 × 12 1/2 in. (37.5 × 21 × 31.8 cm)