Amazing Handmade Gorilla Mask, from NBC Television sled dogs I'd guess earlyish 20th century

I'd guess earlyish 20th century

9 5/8" long x 6 1/2" wide x 3/8" deep

and with terrific proportions

and I would guess German

but featuring George Washington and the like) which sold in a Skinner Auction a few years ago

Amazing Handmade Gorilla Mask, from NBC Television sled dogs I'd guess earlyish 20th centuryThere was pretty much no way I could leave this behind once I had seen it. First, it's amazing! But also, it's been beaten up and lived a life and been mended all over, which has rendered it, for me least, quite a tender, complex, and rather heart breaking object. I know that it originally came from NBC television, and would guess it dates to the 50s or 60s. (There is a fun website Hollywood Gorilla Men which really digs into the history of gorilla