Images of masks, mask making, and use of masks in various parts of Mexico. Also includes photograph of a painting by Donald Cordry depicting use of a mask and musical instruments.
Biographical/Historical note:
Donald Bush Cordry (1907-1978) was an artist, photographer, and ethnographer of the arts and crafts of Indians of Mexico. In 1931, Cordry made his first trip to Mexico (Guerrero) and become fascinated by contemporary Mexican Indian art, especially mask making. In 1934, Cordry moved to New York to work as a marionette designer for puppeteer Tony Sarg and soon contacted George G. Heye to learn more about Mexican Indian art. From 1935 to 1938, Cordry collected Mexican masks and other art forms on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. On his first 1935 collecting trip for Heye, Cordry traveled throughout the states of Michoacan and Guerrero and collected carved and painted dance masks.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 82-14
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Photographs of the Donald Cordry Mexican mask exhibit can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 80-3.
The Donald Cordry Mexican mask collection can be found in the Department of Anthropology in USNM ACC 355867.
Photographs taken by Cordry can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 87-38.
Donald Cordry and his wife, Dorothy Mann Cordry, also donated clothing and musical instruments from Mexico to the Department of Anthropology in USNM ACC 361232 and USNM ACC 355866.
The National Museum of the American Indian Archives holds the Donald Bush Cordry collection of photographs and negatives, 1933-1940, as well as artifacts collected by Cordry.
The University of Texas at Austin holds the Donald Cordry Collection Relating to Mexican Masks, 1931-1978.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
