Burial Mask in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2018

Burial Mask
A.D. 525–550

Object Details

Date: A.D. 525–550

Geography: Peru

Culture: Moche

Medium: Copper, gilded copper, shell, stone

Dimensions: H. 7 7/8 × W. 8 11/16 × D. 4 5/16 in. (20 × 22 × 11 cm)

Classification: Metalwork-Ornaments

Credit Line: Museo de Sitio de Chan Chan, Huanchaco, Peru, Ministerio de Cultura del Perú (13-01-04/IV/A-1/13, 660)


The young lord in Tomb 2 at Dos Cabezas was interred with several nose ornaments and this mask. He was likely wearing the rectangular gold nose ornament with a silver stepped-design border at the time of his burial. The X-shaped example featuring a monkey and Crested Animals had fallen down the left side of his face. The owl, with its projecting pale gold beak, was intentionally compressed at the sides and then placed in the young lord’s mouth. The bat ornament was found nearby.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/722389