Blackface mask of a man wearing a top hat

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

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.

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