Artist: Jean-Pierre Maury (French, 1932–2021)
Object type: Theatrical mask
Period: Vintage, 20th century
Style: Modernist reinterpretation of Commedia dell'arte
Subject: Pulcinella (classical Commedia dell'arte character)
Color: Dark green with areas of purple veining
Dimensions: 7 inches height × 7.5 inches width × 6.25 inches depth
Condition: Good. Wear consistent with age. Cracks on mask surface along forehead.
Description:
This work presents a Modernist reinterpretation of the classical Pulcinella mask from the Commedia dell'arte tradition. The mask is finished in dark green with areas of purple veining. Cracks along the forehead are visible and are most likely intentional surface treatments. The mask is in good condition with wear consistent with age. The stand featured is not included.
Jean-Pierre Maury 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), 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
Artist: Jean-Pierre Maury (French, 1932–2021)
Object type: Theatrical mask
Period: Vintage, 20th century
Style: Modernist reinterpretation of Commedia dell'arte
Subject: Pulcinella (classical Commedia dell'arte character)
Color: Dark green with areas of purple veining
Dimensions: 7 inches height × 7.5 inches width × 6.25 inches depth
Condition: Good. Wear consistent with age. Cracks on mask surface along forehead.
Description:
This work presents a Modernist reinterpretation of the classical Pulcinella mask from the Commedia dell'arte tradition. The mask is finished in dark green with areas of purple veining. Cracks along the forehead are visible and are most likely intentional surface treatments. The mask is in good condition with wear consistent with age. The stand featured is not included.
Jean-Pierre Maury 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), 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
