The Jackdaw

Created in 2017, The Jackdaw is Tom Banwell’s 12th plague doctor mask.  The Jackdaw a derivative design of The Stiltzkin Plague Doctor mask, Tom’s original wrinkled plague doctor mask. The Jackdaw is identical to The Stiltzkin, except a seam has been added down the middle of the mask between the eyes and down the beak, opening up room for eyeglasses to be worn. The eyepieces are also larger than on The Stiltzkin. The mask is painted black with grey lenses or white with red lenses.

By using a thinner leather combined with a proprietary technique that he pioneered, Tom developed a leather finishing process that resulted in The Jackdaw & The Stiltzkin’s unique textures. Like The Stiltzkin, The Jackdaw is a departure from Tom’s previous designs and follows The Stiltzkin as part of a new style of plague doctor. Contrasting the clean seam lines, neat rivet work, and intricate hand stitching of Tom’s previous plague doctor characters, The Jackdaw/Stiltzkin reimagines the plague doctor as ragged and worn creature with it’s signature wrinkled leather. Each mask is individually shaped by hand, and as the folds are different each mask is unique.