Moche Mask in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2018

Mask, A.D. 300–600


Object Details

Date: A.D. 300–600

Geography: Peru

Culture: Moche

Medium: Gilded copper, shell, stone, and pigment

Dimensions: H, 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)

Classification: Metalwork-Sculpture

Credit Line: Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, Germany (119 156)


This life-size burial mask is made of gilded copper-alloy sheet inlaid with shell-and-stone eyes. The ears, made separately, once held ornaments. To gild the object, craftsmen deposited a thin gold coating over a copper substrate. A layer of reddish pigment, now discolored, was then applied on the forehead and below the eyes, and a row of small snails was painted along the chin and jaw. Four holes at the corners may have been used to attach the mask to the head of the deceased before burial.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/722091