Costa Rican Boruca People Mask: "El Diablito"

This is a Boruca People of Costa Rica mask, called "diablito." The Boruca are known for vibrantly colored, intricately carved masks.

Annually, the Borucans celebrate their successful resistance to Spanish conquest, even though the Spaniards had advanced weapons and the Borucans only had animal spirits to guide them.

The highlight of the festival is the 'Danza del los Diablitos' or 'the dance of the little devils'. The truer name of the festival should be the 'Festival of the Ancestral Spirits'. In homage to the spirits that aided them, today's intricate masks are carved and painted to represent these spirits, fierce animals, devils, and also images of the local flora and fauna of their country.

The Borucans carved their masks in relief. Relief carvings have a flat back and the image carved in three dimension, obtaining great depths, all from one piece of wood.

There are three distinct styles of masks; each tells a specific story about Borucan culture. The first is the 'diablito' or 'devil' mask, the most traditional. The second is the 'ecologica', featuring animals and plants of the rainforest. The third, 'combinados', are the metamorphosis of both the 'diablitos' and the 'ecologica', as they represent the blending of the traditional and contemporary styles.
Source:
https://www.borucacostarica.org/masks-1/
http://www.boruca.org/en/