The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 12, 2022

Mask

1-550

Central Mexico, Teotihuacán style, Classic Period

Stone

Overall: 13.4 x 12.8 x 6.7 cm (5 1/4 x 5 1/16 x 2 5/8 in.)

The Norweb Collection 1950.409

Location

233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Fun Fact

These stone masks have been found near temples, but not in homes or burials.

Description

Many Teotihuacán masks were once tied to something via holes on the back--perhaps a body-shaped form dressed in garments, ornaments, and a headdress that identified the figure. The stone masks’ eyes and mouths once held inlays representing irises, pupils, and teeth.

Provenance
?-1950
Raymond Henry Norweb [1894-1983] and Emery May Holden Norweb [1895-1984], Cleveland OH, 1950, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1950
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Citations
Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "Veneration of the Dead: Religious Ritual on a Pre-Columbian Mirror-Back." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 9 (1990): 326-51. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 328-29 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

Cleveland, OH. The Cleveland Museum of Art; Novemeber 9. 1945-January 6, 1946. "Art of the Americas."

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.409