Mouth Mask

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Mouth Mask

100 BCE–700 CE

Maker
Maker not recorded

Place / culture
Peru, South Coast, Nasca

Materials
hammered gold alloy

Dimensions
Overall: 14 x 19.4 cm (5 1/2 x 7 5/8 in.)

Look closely.

Nasca figures, like one on a bowl nearby, are shown wearing such forehead ornaments and mouth masks similar to these. The mouth mask hung from the nasal septum, the oval opening surrounding the mouth and the bristles positioned as feline whiskers, here transformed to serpents. Both were cut from sheet gold; details were worked freehand while the sheet rested on a soft surface.

Cleveland Museum of Art · 1945.377

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

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