The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 29, 2023

Mask

1–550

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.

Provenance
?-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
Citations
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
Exhibition history

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 4 - November 29, 1992. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art. 79 (September, 1992.) cat. no. 56, p. 270, repr. fig. 56, p. 251.

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (9/30/2017 – 2/11/2018) and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA (3/25/2018 – 7/15/2018): "Teotihuacán: City of Water, City of Fire"

The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).

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).

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