Continental Mask of Infamy, Style Circa 1680
Charles Keller
April 4, 2016
More from my days at Manion’s, sold January 2004:
“He who lusts for quarrel and hate shall carry me around the state.”
Multi-piece formed steel construction, exaggerated and contorted facial features, hinged with lock to reverse. Used for the public humiliation of wrong-doers, alongside other instruments of torture such as the Shrew’s Fiddle – a variation of the yoke, and the insidious Judas Cradle.
Mask styles varied according to the crime they were meant to punish, from stealing, lying, adultery…and disagreeable or scolding women.