Unknown
Pre-Columbian
Moche Mask, 2nd c. CE - 8th c. CE, Pre-Columbian, Moche
copper alloy, bone, muscovite
9 x 6 1/2 in.
SBMA, Gift of Wright S. Ludington
1960.2
RESEARCH PAPER
This copper mask is thought to have been produced by the Moche, a pre-Incan civilization that flourished in Northern Peru, between the 1st and 8th centuries CE. A sophisticated culture based on agriculture, it occupied an area of coastal desert approximately 250 miles long and 50 miles wide. The Moche utilized a vast network of irrigation canals to water fields of vegetables and fruits. Coastal waters provided rich fishing grounds. In the river valleys, the Moche, using clay bricks, constructed vast pyramids, palaces and built monumental temples for housing burial sites. Archeological finds confirm highly developed metallurgical skills utilizing copper, bronze, gold, and silver gilding. The Moche utilized both the lost wax process of metal casting as well as hammering techniques. They are also known for their refined ceramics, many pieces shaped to resemble individualized portraits with uniquely shaped handle grips known as “stirrup spouts”. The society had no centralized government but rather was composed of independent, culturally related policies. Moche culture mysteriously disappeared before the Spanish conquest.
The origin of the Museum’s Moche mask is unknown but is likely to have come from one of several excavated tombs sites in the Lambayeque Valley. Moche tradition interned their dead with a wide variety of objects including ceramics, jewelry, elaborate headdresses, and funerary masks. These masks display realistic noses and mouths approximately the shape and size of ancient Peruvian faces. Masks for the dead were placed over the face, the mouth closed with widely open staring but unseeing eyes. The bodies of the deceased were covered in cotton gauze and laid in a supine position. “The masks give the appearance of a fully alert, living individual transforming the dead to one enjoying eternal life.” The use of these masks is thought to have been restricted to the upper echelon of society and its warrior priests. It should be noted that the Moche also used ceremonial masks for the living, but these masks had the eyes and mouths open enabling the wearer to actually see and speak.
Our life-sized funerary mask is made of copper and molded naturalistically. The eyebrows are prominent, large almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, a straight nose, and a relaxed, closed mouth. Through aging and environmental exposure, the copper has developed a corrosive, greenish surface, also known as *verdigris. Conch shells or bone are used for the eyes, muscovite (mica) for the pupils. Their gaze is penetrating and relentless. Who knows what they see? One can only guess!
Prepared for SBMA Docent Council by Susan Northrop, November 2020
Notes:
The Moche valley believed to be the capital of the Moche culture, consisted of Huaca del Sol (Temple of the Sun) and Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon). Huaca del Sol was the largest pre-Columbian adobe structure built, which served as an administrative, military, residential function, and burial place for the Moche elites. It was destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors in the 17th century. Huaca de la Luna served for ceremonies and religious functions. It was left untouched and has yielded the most archaeological information.
The Moche did not have writing, they also did not have a cash or money economy. We have to rely on artifacts and archeological sites to learn about this culture.
Among the few theories about the decline of Moche culture, one is climate change. During a super El Niño between 536 to 594 AD, 30 years of intense rain and flooding followed by 30 years of drought. The heavy rain washed out irrigation canals, damaged houses, villages, which led to disease, famine, and so on. They would do human sacrifice to try and stop the rain, many remains found in Huaca de la Luna. No evidence of foreign invasion, but probably there were social unrests as internal groups fought over increasingly scarce resources.
*Verdigris is the green pigment that can be naturally formed when copper is exposed to air and seawater over time. It can also be formed by applying acetic acid to copper plates.
Bibliography:
Donnan, Christopher B. “Moche Masking Traditions”, published in The Art and Archaeology of the Moche, edited by Steve Bourget and Kimberly L. Jones. Un. Of Texas Press. 2088. 67-80pp
Kirkpatrick, Sidney D. Lords of Sipan, A Tale of Pre Inca Tombs. 2011
Szumilewiez, Amy. Symbolic Uses of Metal in Moche Burials. MA Thesis, Dept. of Anthropology, So. Illinois. 12/2011
Periodicals:
Alva, Walter (Oct 1988) “Discovering the New World’s Richest Unlooted Tomb”. National Geographic. Vol, 74. No4. pp 510-555
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moche_culture
COMMENTS
[Thought to be an Inca Mask from the late Horizon Period (1476-1534) when initially acquired.]
This bronze death mask was made at a time when the Peruvian Incas believed strongly in an afterlife. As a symbolic representation of the deceased where he was at the height of his wealth and power, it attempts to perpetuate his "essence" into the distant future. Graves of wealthy and important persons were lavishly adorned with precious materials and jewelry in order for the deceased to make a triumphant entrance into the underworld. Masks such as this were attached to the mummy bundles to give a lifelike appearance. The individualized features indicate portraiture, a style of representation long associated with immortality.
- Acquisition Data Sheet, 1960
[But subsequent research suggests an earlier, Moche origin (2nd c. CE - 8th c. CE).]
This ceremonial mask of human size is naturalistically modeled. It is in copper rather than bronze with a brilliant vert-de-gris finish. The huge eyes in stone or shell stare out with awesome impact. It has been said to be Inca, but I have found no evidence to support this. The smooth finesse of the modelling and the shape of the face are nothing like Inca work, but point to Moche.
- Shawn Stevenson, SBMA Cataloger
Due to a lack of available data, this mask can not be dated or put into a cultural style with any certainty. However, two similar masks were found in Northern Peru which, along with this mask, have Moche style elements (naturalism reflected in the Moche portrait vessels, the refinements of Moche metallurgy and gold work, the use of inlay, the use of face paint), most of which are not common to Inca art work.
- Joy Dewett, SBMA Cataloger
SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS
Elite members of Moche society were buried with a wide variety of precious objects. These were often made of valuable materials that had to be imported from elsewhere in the Andean world or further away. Pieces which adorn the body such as jewelry and headdresses have been found together with masks similar to this one in both male and female burials. Lifelike in its rendering, it is possible that this mask resembled the specific individual for whom it was made. A scientific study of the object showed that it was made of a copper alloy with a small amount of gold and was once painted red with cinnabar. The eyes are made of bone and a black stone called muscovite. Small fragments of textile are still present on the metal and holes around the edge indicate that it may have once had ears attached.
- Thayer Reopening, 2021