General   (General discussion, talk about anything.)

Thanks, Tonker. It looks like strictly there is/was a distinction, and the Rock Hotel faces may be masks, but the others are mascarons?

“In architecture, a mascaron ornament is a face, usually human, sometimes frightening or chimeric whose alleged function was originally to frighten away evil spirits so that they would not enter the building. The concept was subsequently adapted to become a purely decorative element.” Wiki

The term mascaron …comes from the Italian ‘mascharone,’ which in turn derives from the Arab word ‘mascara’ meaning buffoonery.

Throughout the C17th a distinction was made between masks and mascarons. Writing in 1691 architect Augustin-Charles d’Aviler described a mask as a human face that was traditionally sculpted in the keystone over a door or window opening … In contrast, a mascaron was a grotesque image, a representation of something or someone unreal, and was used on doors, grottoes and fountains.
Victoria & Albert Museum