Pre-Columbian, Central Coast Peru, Chancay, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. A fabulous anthropomorphic mummy mask carved from coffee-brown wood. The mask has a wide profile with smooth cheeks, a sharply-angled jaw line, a prominent nose, and shallow nasolabial folds. Enormous diamond-shaped eyes boast white-painted sclera and pierced pupils which perhaps at one time housed additional ornamentation. Drilled mortises around the periphery suggest this mask was secured to the head of a deceased person during a funerary ritual. The sober visage and generic features are part of the traditional mask style for adorning the mummified bodies, as they were not intended to be portraits, but rather a stylized representation of the human face for important individuals as a mark of their elite status. After death, status as deity was often bestowed upon these people and the mask was thought to become their permanent face. Size: 6.8" W x 7.2" H (17.3 cm x 18.3 cm); 10.5" H (26.7 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: ex- private New York, New York acquired from Art for Eternity; ex-private Orlando, Florida, USA collection; ex-private Hawaii, USA collection from pre-2000 collection

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#159305

Large abrasion and losses to top edge with minor abrasions and nicks to nose, jawline, peripheries, and verso, with fading to pigment on eyes, losses to eye ornamentation. Old inventory label on backside and mineral deposits.