Lot 176A
Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Moche, ca. 6th to 7th century CE. An impressive hammered-copper funerary mask depicting the stylized face of a lord or king. The visage is composed of a bulbous nose with delineated nostrils and a pierced septum which once held a nose ring, lightly-rounded cheeks with nasolabial folds in repousse, a wide chin below thin lips, and semicircular ears. The recessed ovoid eyes suggest they once held inlays of shell or more luxurious materials like silver, and small textile fragments along the forehead and nose show how the mask was placed atop the face of the deceased and then ceremonially wrapped in fabric. Hanging below the chin are six hammered copper amulets on a modern copper wire depicting abstract owl heads, each with wide eyes and arched brows which conjoin to form the slender beak. Owls were symbolically important because they were believed to see through the darkness of death and act accordingly as a guardian to the afterlife. Size: 10.25" W x 8.375" H (26 cm x 21.3 cm); 12.375" H (31.4 cm) on included custom stand.
For a stylistically-similar example with additional inlays and a nose ring, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1980.563.15: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314337
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Eugene Lions collection, Geneve, Switzerland
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#146135
- Condition: Light resurfacing to tip of nose. Original nose ring and eye inlays missing. Copper necklace wire is modern. Repair and restoration to forehead and both sides of face, with restoration to roughly 90% of both ears, all with resurfacing and repatination over break lines. Slight bending to overall form of mask and owl amulets, with minor abrasions to face, owl amulets, and peripheries, with light encrustations. Light earthen deposits as well as fabulous green patina throughout.
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