Mexican Tigre Mask Carved Painted Wood Tiger Mask Guerrero Ceremonial Folk Art

  
This striking wooden Tigre helmet mask from Zitlala, Guerrero, embodies one of Mexico's most vivid folk traditions. Hand-carved and painted in bold black and yellow, it represents the jaguar, an animal deeply tied to strength and ritual in Mesoamerican culture.

The mirrored eyes catch the light, adding a fierce, lifelike quality during ceremonial use. Such masks are worn during the annual Holy Cross festival in Zitlala, where participants known as Tigres engage in ritual combat symbolizing agricultural fertility and community strength.

This example captures the artistry and cultural spirit of Guerrero's renowned mask makers, with detailed carving and layers of paint showing its handcrafted origin. Whether displayed as an ethnographic artifact, a collector's piece, or a bold decorative accent, it carries the history of Mexican ritual traditions and the enduring symbolism of the jaguar. The mask is approximately 12" x 9" x 8.

There is a small string affixed through the top of it to hang it on a wall. There are a few spots where the fur is missing (photos included). The fur does have a very mild fur smell.

It's not a stick or an odor, just the smell of the authentic materials used. The Dance of the Tigers, better known as "Fight of the Tigers", is a rite of request for rain typical of the Nahua localities of the central region of the state of Guerrero, such as Acatlán and Zitlala, in which a large part of the men participate.

It consists of a combat between the "jaguar men" or "tiger men", who, fully characterized as this feline, dance, box and snap their whips. This impressive ceremony, which is traditionally celebrated around the feast of the Holy Cross, between May 2 and 5, represents the duel between the jaguars or tigers, who thus invoke the clouds to rain on the cornfields. In the ritual, the contenders fight fiercely because, according to the Nahua proverb of the region, the more blood the tigers shed, the more rain there will be for the germination of the seeds.

At the time of this listing I have one made of leather as well. Please see my other listings.