"Mummy bundle" head or "false head", ca. 1000 - 1400 AD ·  Peru, Chancay · ID: 3050251

Description

A fine “mummy bundle false head” made from tightly woven cotton sack and camelid fibers (alpaca or llama), with hammered and cut sheets made from a copper - silver alloy sewn to the cloth as the visage.

When used, the pillow case would have been stuffed with fiber (straw, raw cotton) to create volume and fastened as a “false head” to the top of a mummy bundle (“fardo”).

Chancay mummies were tightly wrapped in a seated position with yards and yards of cloth, creating drum- to cylinder-shaped “mummy bundles”.
“‘False heads” can also be carved from wood or hammered and chased from metal, such as gold, silver and copper.

The object “Mummy bundle” head or “false head”, ca. 1000 - 1400 AD with the object ID 3050251 was part of the auction Collectors’ Items Sale on September 24, 2025, lot number 70 at that time and is currently available for EUR 600 in Open sale.

Here you will find more objects and interesting facts about American art and Pre-columbian art.

Notices

This object is subject to the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Export documents are required for export (subjected to a fee).