Witch Way

I had a meeting in Edinburgh today and afterwards I was back in the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) dropping off some pond weed for the basin part of George Wyllie's sculpture (or scul?ture as he called them, because the question mark was too important to be left at the end).
As you do...
The RSA's Annual Exhibition opens on Saturday and for the first time ever is free to view.
The theme of the curated section of the exhibition is 'Between the late and early' and has been chosen by convenor, Eddie Summerton.
This is a busy, busy exhibition and I've written about it for this Saturday's Herald, so I won't go on, but I was keen to get a pic of this strange and bloodcurdling mask for today's Blip.
On the exhibition listing I have here, it's called a Witches' Brank with Solid Face with Long Horns and the medium is listed as 'iron'.
They've been borrowed from the collection of Dundee Art Galleries & Museums.
In the middle ages, a brank's bridle was a punishment device used on women who were accused of witchcraft as a form of torture and public humiliation. It was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head.
Yegads! If you look carefully, I'm in the picture too.