4243 – Witch Mask

Physical description:

A carved wooden mask, very heavy, with eye holes, exaggerated features, large white teeth which are probably animal teeth, and hair made by attaching goatskin to the mask. A Swiss Tschägättä mask which probably represents the Witch/Goddess Perchta. This mask can be distinguished from the similar mask 4244 by the fact that it has six teeth, darker hair and a more elongated face with a broader chin.

Museum classification:

Images of Witchcraft / Goddess

Size:

370 x 230 x 130

Information:

There is a hanging loop on the back, which together with the fact that the back is flat suggests that this is a decorative object rather than a mask that has actually been worn.

A label on the back gives the maker's name as Familie Ernst Rieder-Jerjen.

This is a Tschägättä mask from the Swiss valley Lötschental, in the Valais region (which, incidentally, was the site of a major witch hunt in the early 15th century, one of the first European witch hunts). Tschägättä are masked figures dressed in sheepskin or goatskin and wearing cowbells. They seem to be similar to the Welsh Gwrachod - people who dressed in masks and sheepskins at Halloween, and who represented dangerous female spirits with magical powers. The Swiss Tschägättä appear between Candlemass at the beginning of February and a carnival held at the end of February, and seem to be associated with the ending of Winter.

This particular mask probably represents the Witch/Goddess Perchta, a similar figure to Baba Yaga in Russian mythology and Gullveig in Norse mythology.

Companion to MWM object no. 4244.

Resource:

Object

Materials:

Wood, animal teeth, goatskin

Copyright ownership:

Familie Ernst Rieder-Jerjen

There is a hanging loop on the back, which together with the fact that the back is flat suggests that this is a decorative object rather than a mask that has actually been worn.

A label on the back gives the maker's name as Familie Ernst Rieder-Jerjen.

This is a Tschägättä mask from the Swiss valley Lötschental, in the Valais region (which, incidentally, was the site of a major witch hunt in the early 15th century, one of the first European witch hunts). Tschägättä are masked figures dressed in sheepskin or goatskin and wearing cowbells. They seem to be similar to the Welsh Gwrachod - people who dressed in masks and sheepskins at Halloween, and who represented dangerous female spirits with magical powers. The Swiss Tschägättä appear between Candlemass at the beginning of February and a carnival held at the end of February, and seem to be associated with the ending of Winter.

This particular mask probably represents the Witch/Goddess Perchta, a similar figure to Baba Yaga in Russian mythology and Gullveig in Norse mythology.

Companion to MWM object no. 4244.