Blackface mask of a man wearing a top hat: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

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.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: late 19th-mid 20th century
• Created by: Unidentified
• Type: masks (costume)
• Medium: paint, paper, and adhesive
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 14 3/4 × 8 1/4 × 12 1/2 in. (37.5 × 21 × 31.8 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blackface
• Topic: Caricature and cartoons
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Minstrel (Music)
• Object number: 2016.166.33
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Liljenquist Family Collection
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.