A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body, so in parts of Australia giant totem masks cover the body, whilst Inuit women use finger masks during storytelling and dancing.
Read more about Mask: Etymology, History, Masks in Performance, Ritual Masks, Masks in Theatre, Functional Masks, Punitive, Fashion, Horror Film, Other Types
Famous quotes containing the word mask:
“It’s a terrible thing to be alone—yes it is—it is—but don’t lower your mask until you have another mask prepared beneath—as terrible as you like—but a mask.”
—Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923)
“Vice, in its true light, is so deformed, that it shocks us at first sight; and would hardly ever seduce us, if it did not at first wear the mask of some virtue.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“‘Tis not need we know our every thought
Or see the work shop where each mask is wrought
Wherefrom we view the world of box and pit,
Careless of wear, just so the mask shall fit
And serve our jape’s turn for a night or two.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)