The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 6, 2023

Mouth Mask

100 BC-AD 700

Peru, South Coast, Nasca

Hammered gold alloy

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

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1945.377

Location

232 Andean

Description

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.

Citations
Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 47; Mentioned: p. 46, p. 62
Exhibition history

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; November 9, 1945 - January 6, 1946. "Art of the Americas."

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 23 - April 3, 1966. "Treasures of Peruvian Gold."

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; October 14-December 9, 1981: "A Cleveland Bestiary." cat. no. 41, repr. p. 47.

New York NY: Americas Society Art Gallery; September 15-December 31, 1991: Masks of the Americas." cat.no. 9, p. 20.

Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946).

A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1945.377