Decorated horse skull, part of mumming costume.

Collection type: Object
Description: Decorated horse skull, part of mumming costume.
Long description: Decorated horse's skull. The skull is covered with dyed cotton textile, and long canvas sections attached to the side of the head. The ears are decorated with felt. [ASh [OPS move] 16/5/2017]
Geographical reference: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Cultural groups: Welsh
Person: Field collector Henry Balfour; PRM source Henry Balfour
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1939?, uncertain
Date collected: ?By 1939
Acquisition information: Donated: 04/1941 Found unentered: 2014
Materials and processes: Material Cotton Seed Fibre Textile Plant, Material Pigment, Material Felt Wool Textile Animal, Process Woven, Process Painted, Material Horse Bone Animal, Process Decorated
Dimensions: Length 520 mm skull, Width 305 mm skull, Depth 190 mm skull
Object numbers: Accession number: 1941.4.59
Research and responses: Information given by Mr T.K. Penniman [T.K.P.] on 15 October 1968. Has room for a man’s head inside. For Mumming play. Mari Lwyd (= Holy Mary, the name of the whole ceremony) is also called “The All Souls Horse”. It is taken round villages on All Souls Day (2nd November) when the dead are supposed to come back riding on it to see their friends. It often snaps its jaws at people, sometimes drawing blood. On that day mapsand cakes are served. T.K.P. saw this ceremony in Llangennith or Llanmadoc in the 1930’s. There was a man inside the horse’s head.

Search terms: Figure, Ornament, Ritual and Ceremonial, Religion, Theatre and Drama, Clothing Headgear, Animal Figure, Headdress, Ceremonial Object

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