Small mask face, Classic Period, 200 - 650 BC ·  Mexico, Teotihuacan · ID: 3053035

Description

serpentine,

This mask is characterised by clear, regular features: a broad, high forehead, eyes and mouth arranged in parallel horizontal lines, and a geometrically shaped nose. Holes in the area of the ears suggest the presence of earrings, as worn by both men and women in Teotihuacan.

Recesses for the eyes and mouth suggest that the mask was originally fitted with inlays of shell or pyrite to represent the eyes and teeth. Nothing definite is known about its original function; it can be ruled out that it was actually worn. It was probably associated with the worship of ancestors or deities. Researchers also suspect that masks of this type may have originated in the context of the cult of the god of maize.

The culture of Teotihuacan in present-day Mexico is one of the earliest and most influential advanced civilisations of Mesoamerica.
Stone masks with stylised, human-like facial features occupy a significant place within the sculptural art of Teotihuacan. They follow a strictly idealised formal canon and appear to be symbolic representations rather than individual portraits, comparable to other standardised motifs of this culture.

Comparing literature

Anton, Ferdinand, Azteken, Maya, Inka und ihre Vorläufer, Iphofen 1995, p. 50

Notices

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