Mouth Mask
100-400 C.E.
Nasca
Arts of the Americas
A common motif in Nasca art is the Anthropomorphic Mythical Being, or “masked god,” interpreted by scholars as a symbolic representation of the powerful spirits residing in nature. On the vessel seen here, the being is associated with agricultural fertility, as indicated by the many multicolored peppers depicted on its body. The figure holds two trophy heads in one hand and a club and some peppers in the other. Decapitation and the shedding of blood were associated with cultivation and the regeneration of plants. The figure is also shown wearing a hammered-gold mouth mask with snake imagery similar to the one displayed here. Snakes were linked to fertility and water cults.
- Maker/Artist
- Nasca
- Classification
- Ornament
- Formatted Medium
- Hammered gold
- Locations
- Place found: South Coast, Peru
- Dimensions
- A: 3 × 3 3/4 × 1/4 in. (7.6 × 9.5 × 0.6 cm) B: 2 x 2 7/8 x 1/4 in. (5.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 cm) C: 2 x 3 x 3/16 in. (5.1 x 7.6 x 0.5 cm) Total weight: 13.37 g
- Departments
- Arts of the Americas
- Accession Number
- 86.224.110a-c
- Credit Line
- Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
- Rights Statement
- Creative Commons-BY
- Museum Location
- Arts of the Americas Galleries, 5th Floor
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