
Collection Online as of September 24, 2023
Cotton and pigment, plain weave
Overall: 66 x 20.9 x 3.8 cm (26 x 8 1/4 x 1 1/2 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1940.516
not on view
These masks fall into two categories, those with only a face and those with a full-bodied figure.
This mummy bundle was likely found on mummy bundles made of a seated human body carefully wrapped in textiles. In some instances, the Paracas people placed a painted cloth like these at the top of the bundle. The cloth was padded on the back so it curved outward like a face, and the tress-like yarns (unwoven warps) at the upper edge were arranged around a solid cotton disk that, in turn, was wrapped with a headband (see photo). The cloths, then, seem to have functioned as the bundle’s face or mask.