The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Mask

1–550 CE

Central Mexico, Teotihuacán style, Classic period

stone
Overall: 15.7 x 15.3 x 7.9 cm (6 3/16 x 6 x 3 1/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.229
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Description

Many Teotihuacán masks were once tied to something via holes on the back--perhaps a body-shaped form dressed in garments, ornaments, and a headdress that identified the figure. The stone masks’ eyes and mouths once held inlays representing irises, pupils, and teeth.
  • ?-1960
    (D’Arcy Galleries, New York, NY, 1960, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)
    1960-1990
    James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1990
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 251 www.jstor.org
  • Teotihuacán: City of Water, City of Fire. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (September 30, 2017-February 11, 2018); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (March 25-September 3, 2018).
    The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).
  • {{cite web|title=Mask|url=false|author=|year=1–550 CE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.229