Description:

Pre-Columbian, Central Coast of Peru, Huari / Wari, ca. 700 to 1000 CE. A hand-carved wooden mummy mask with a gaunt face, perhaps depicting an elderly individual. The rectangular countenance presents with gaunt, almond-shaped eyes above raised brows, a slender nose with delineated nostrils, a slightly offset mouth with a grooved philtrum, and protruding cheeks, all beneath a tall forehead and all decorated with orange-red pigment. Around the forehead is a tightly woven cotton fiber headband bearing a series of San Pedro cactus forms in polychrome hues. Woven string attached to the verso shows how this mask would have been attached to the face of a deceased individual or to the front of their textile mummy bundle. Size: 4.7" W x 7.7" H (11.9 cm x 19.6 cm)

Provenance: private Hidden Valley Lake, California, USA collection, from Heritage Auction, Dallas, Texas, June 25, 2019, Lot 70616

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.

Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.

#170640

  • Condition: Textile headband is likely not original to the wooden mask but is from the stated culture and time period. Back band of headband restored from a different textile strip as shown. Possible repairs to chin and proper left cheek of mask. Light abrasions to mask, and minor fraying to headband. Nice preservation to headband colors and facial features on mask.

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April 21, 2022 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
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