Mask specially designed to publicly punish and humiliate women during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, in Europe.

The big ears meant that she had heard too much and the big, balancing tongue meant that she had talked too much, had invented stories about others and was an incorrigible snoopy. Her nose, similar to a pig’s nose, indicated that she had behaved like an animal. As for the bell tolling, it was intended for the public humiliation of the punished. The mask is fastened to the head of the punished person by an iron structure, which closes with a padlock.

16th-17th century
Iron
Germany?

Inventory nº. 15534

Date of acquisition: October 2016