**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Peru (North Coast), Moche Culture, ca. 100 to 800 CE. A hammered copper headdress ornament, forming a rare mask of the face of a Moche lord/shaman. The eyes are made from inlaid shell. The mask has a large band-like headdress from whose center projects an owl head (not unlike how this item would have projected from a real headband). The face is broad and expressionless, and the placement of the owl suggests either a mask or a shamanic incarnation of the animal - perhaps the face is a shaman who is in a trance stance as an owl. The Moche believed that the owl sacrificed war captives, creating trophy heads. Pierced at the edges and ears for attachment. Size: 3.3" W x 3.15" H (8.4 cm x 8 cm)

Provenance: private southern California, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s to mid-1980s

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#140869

Losses around the edges, notably on the upper left (facing). The inlaid shells have some losses on the surface and may have been reattached. Light encrustation on the face. Nice preservation of form.