Mummy Bundle "Mask" (200–1 BCE): Art, History and Details

Mummy Bundle "Mask" (200–1 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Paracas people buried their dead in pear-shaped mummy bundles, created by carefully wrapping the seated human body in layers of garments and other textiles. Sometimes a painted cloth was placed on the outer layer at the top of the bundle, as though it served as the bundle’s face, head, or “mask.” Some cloths were painted with masklike faces, although others—such as this example—feature complete figures, which may be mythological beings with supernatural appendages.

Object facts

• Title: Mummy Bundle "Mask"
• Date: 200–1 BCE
• Culture: Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site, Paracas style
• Type: Textile
• Technique: cotton: plain warp-faced cloth, painted
• Dimensions: Overall: 48.3 x 18.3 cm (19 x 7 3/16 in.)
• Collection: T - Pre-Columbian
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1940.520

A detail from the museum

These masks fall into two categories, those with only a face and those with a full-bodied figure.

Collection credit

The Norweb Collection

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.