Title: Modernist Leather Wrapped Harlequin Mask
Artist: Jean-Pierre Maury (French, 1932–2021)
Date: circa 1955–1970 (vintage)
Medium: Cast plastic core with leather wrapping; original leather cordage
Dimensions: Height 7 in. (17.8 cm) x Width 7 in. (17.8 cm) x Depth 5.25 in. (13.3 cm)
Condition: Good. Notable loss along lateral edges; leather shows age appropriate patina. Surface crack under the top lip. Please reference accompanying detail photography for condition documentation.
Description:
This work presents a Modernist reinterpretation of the classical Harlequin (Arlecchino) mask from the Commedia dell’arte tradition. Departing from the painted wood or leather of historical originals, Maury employs a sculpted plastic armature wrapped in leather.
Jean-Pierre Maury (1932–2021) was a French mouleur-figuriste (figurist-molder) and the last known practitioner of traditional life and death mask casting in Paris. Beginning his career as a poet and comedian in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés cabaret scene of the 1950s, Maury transitioned into sculptural molding after acquiring the cabaret Le Port du Salut. There, he developed a distinctive practice of capturing living faces in plaster, later expanding into posthumous masks, forensic facial reconstruction for the Paris Institut Médico-Légal, and anatomical studies. Maury collaborated with Salvador Dalí and sculptor César (César Baldaccini), contributing to César’s celebrated Expansions series. From 1962 onward, he produced over 400 plaster effigies for cinema, notably The Longest Day.
Museum Holdings & Collections:
Maury’s works are held in the collections of the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) as well as the Musée de l’Homme (Paris) , the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme, and numerous private European and American collections. His life masks and death masks are periodically exhibited in major retrospectives on French modernism and theatrical object art.
Title: Modernist Leather Wrapped Harlequin Mask
Artist: Jean-Pierre Maury (French, 1932–2021)
Date: circa 1955–1970 (vintage)
Medium: Cast plastic core with leather wrapping; original leather cordage
Dimensions: Height 7 in. (17.8 cm) x Width 7 in. (17.8 cm) x Depth 5.25 in. (13.3 cm)
Condition: Good. Notable loss along lateral edges; leather shows age appropriate patina. Surface crack under the top lip. Please reference accompanying detail photography for condition documentation.
Description:
This work presents a Modernist reinterpretation of the classical Harlequin (Arlecchino) mask from the Commedia dell’arte tradition. Departing from the painted wood or leather of historical originals, Maury employs a sculpted plastic armature wrapped in leather.
Jean-Pierre Maury (1932–2021) was a French mouleur-figuriste (figurist-molder) and the last known practitioner of traditional life and death mask casting in Paris. Beginning his career as a poet and comedian in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés cabaret scene of the 1950s, Maury transitioned into sculptural molding after acquiring the cabaret Le Port du Salut. There, he developed a distinctive practice of capturing living faces in plaster, later expanding into posthumous masks, forensic facial reconstruction for the Paris Institut Médico-Légal, and anatomical studies. Maury collaborated with Salvador Dalí and sculptor César (César Baldaccini), contributing to César’s celebrated Expansions series. From 1962 onward, he produced over 400 plaster effigies for cinema, notably The Longest Day.
Museum Holdings & Collections:
Maury’s works are held in the collections of the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) as well as the Musée de l’Homme (Paris) , the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme, and numerous private European and American collections. His life masks and death masks are periodically exhibited in major retrospectives on French modernism and theatrical object art.
