The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Mummy Bundle "Mask"
200–1 BCE
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
These masks fall into two categories, those with only a face and those with a full-bodied figure.Description
The Paracas people of Peru's South Coast buried their dead in pear-shaped mummy bundles made of a seated human body carefully wrapped in garments and other textiles. Sometimes a painted cloth was placed at the top of the bundle, as though it served as the bundle's face, head, or "mask." The cloth was padded on the back so it curved outward like a face, and the tress-like yarns (unwoven warps) at the upper edge were arranged around a solid cotton disk that, in turn, was wrapped with a headband. Some cloths were painted with mask-like faces, and others with full figures, apparently mythical creatures.- ?-1940Emery May Holden Norweb [1895-1984] and Raymond Henry Norweb [1894-1983], Cleveland OH, 1940, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1940The Cleveland Museum of Art
- {{cite web|title=Mummy Bundle "Mask"|url=false|author=|year=200–1 BCE|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1940.519