T H E
H A I T I A N S P I R I T
Papier Maché Carnival Masks from Jacmel |
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Papier Maché artist Tidier Levoyant from Jacmel, Haiti (with parrot mask #hmsk-09), at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC, July, 2004 (photo by AH Fisher).

Papier Maché devil mask from Jacmel, Haiti ( devil mask #hmsk-07, below), at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC, July, 2004.
( Photograph © Anthony Hart Fisher 2004).

Papier Maché monster mask ( Photograph © Anthony Hart Fisher 2004).

Papier Maché monster mask .
( Photograph © Anthony Hart Fisher 2004).

Papier Maché artist Tidier Levoyant from Jacmel, Haiti molds papier maché over a clay mold.
( Photograph © Anthony Hart Fisher 2004).
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Papier Maché mask of Haitian founding father Alexandre Petion (photo by AH Fisher).

Papier Maché monster mask.
( Photograph © Anthony Hart Fisher 2004).

Papier Maché artist Didier Civil in Santa Fe, NM, 2007 ( Photograph © Anthony Hart Fisher 2007).

Papier Maché artist Pierre Edgard Satyr in Santa Fe, NM, 2009 ( Photograph © Anthony Hart Fisher 2009).
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The official parade starts shortly after noon with a menagerie of animals, giant papier-maché masks topping multi-colored costumes representing each species in vibrant detail: lions, alligators, zebras, apes, giraffes, frogs, crocodiles, flamingos, parrots, horses, rhinoceroses, elephants, snakes, dragons, rabbits, even yellow-eyed mice that look like laboratory mutants....
Jacmel's carnival is best known for these papier maché masks. Whether they are carved to look like animals, world figures or the local politician of the day, they are what people remember most from the parade. Jacmelians like to boast that these masks would stand out in any carnival, even in the richest countries in the world. And they are right. Both playful and ceremonial, these masks seemed to have jumped out of Haitian paintings, which often depict an older, wilder Haiti, with lush forests and jungles sheltering indigenous animals as well as species that have never been seen on the island, all of it forming a living fable, a chimerical Noah's Ark, a symbolic journey between the present and a very distant past.
Edwidge Danticat - After the Dance: A Walk through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti 2002
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Cow Mask (#hmsk-04)
Denejour Frantz - Groupe Flambeau (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(18" h. x 23" w. w. x 21" d.)
c. 2004
Exhibited at the Noyes Museum January through March, 2011.
Price on request |


Devil Mask (#hmsk-07)
Anonymous artist (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(20" h. x 22 1/2" w. x 16" d.)
c. 2004
Exhibited at the Noyes Museum January through March, 2011.
Price on request
SOLD 9/2012
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Carnival Mask Ornaments (#hmsk-mini)
Various artists (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(3 1/2" h. x 3 3/4" w. x 2" d.)
$9 each (assorted) |



Small Carnival Masks (#hmsk-sml)
Ronson Benoit, Eddy & various artists (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(+/- 5 1/2" h. x 5" w. x 3" d.)
$18 each (assorted) |
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Tiger Mask (#hmsk-12)
Didier Civile (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(12 1/2" h. x 11 1/2" w. x 8" d.)
c.2007
$95
SOLD 8/2012 |


Figivenn's Mask (#hmsk-18)
Didier Civile (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(16 1/2" h. x 17" w. x 7 1/2" d.)
c.2007
$175 |
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Bete Fantastique Carnival Mask (#hmsk-23)
Jean-Paul Sylvaince (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(21 1/2" h. x 13" w. x 15 1/2" d.)
c.2008
$295 |

Diable Carnival Mask (#hmsk-25)
Unsigned mask (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(13 1/2" h. x 11 3/4" w. x 6 3/4" d.)
c.2009
$95 |
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Blue-spatter Carnival Mask (#hmsk-26)
Onel Bazelais (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(11" h. x 11 1/2" w. x 5 1/2" d.)
c.2009
$88 |

Spotted Diable Carnival Mask (#hmsk-27)
Guerrier O. (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(19" h. x 17 1/2" w. x 9" d.)
c.2009
$225 |
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Zebra Carnival Mask (#hmsk-30)
Onil (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(18 1/2" h. x 12" w. x 15 1/2" d.)
c.2009
$275 |

Big-toothed Carnival Mask (#hmsk-31)
Amounou (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(26" h. x 20" w. x 20" d.)
c.2008
Price on request
On loan to the Noyes Museum through March, 2011 |
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King Kong Mask (#hmsk-33)
Amounou (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(17" h. x 121/2" w. x 12 1/2" d.)
c.2008
Price on request |

Horse Mask (#hmsk-34)
Amounou (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(26" h. x 29 1/2" w. x 29" d.)
c.2008
Price on request |
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Carnival Mask (#hmsk-35)
Ronson Benoit (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(11 1/4" h. x 13 1/4" w. x 4" d.)
2010
$78 |

Carnival Mask (#hmsk-36)
Nazirit Design (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(8 1/2" h. x 9" w. x 5" d.)
2010
$29
SOLD 2/2013 |
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Carnival Mask (#hmsk-37)
Nazirit Design (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(8 1/2" h. x 8 1/4" w. x 5" d.)
2010
$29 |

Carnival Mask (#hmsk-38)
Ronson Benoit (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(18 1/2" h. x 19" w. x 7" d.)
2010
$225 |
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Carnival Mask (#hmsk-39)
Ronson Benoit (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(18 1/4" h. x 18 3/4" w. x 6 1/2" d.)
2010
$225 |

Devil (Djab) Mask (#hmsk-40)
Jean-Pierre Jules Andre (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(14 1/4" h. x 16 1/2" w. x 5" d.)
2010
$145 |
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Blue Devil Carnival Mask (#hmsk-41)
Rony M. (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(10 1/2" h. x 10 1/2" w. x 4 1/2" d.)
2011
$85 |

'Au naturel' Tiger Mask (#hmsk-42)
Onel Bazelais (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(16 3/4" h. x 17 1/2" w. x 9" d.)
2011
$225 |
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"12 Janvier 2010" Carnival Mask (#hmsk-43)
Onel Bazelais (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(20" h. x 19 1/4" w. x 8 3/4" d.)
2010
This carnival mask, it's face crushed under a block of concrete, commemorates 'goudou-goudou", the devastating earthquake of January 12th, 2010
SOLD |

Carnival Mask (#hmsk-45)
Unknown artist (Jacmel, Haiti)
Papier Maché
(9" h. x 8" w. x 3" d.)
c.2010
$35
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