Collection record · Dress & textiles
Mummy Bundle "Mask"
The collection record classifies this work as textile. It is dated 200–1 BCE. Recorded culture or place: Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site, Paracas style.
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A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Mummy Bundle "Mask"
- Date
- 200–1 BCE
- Culture / origin
- Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site, Paracas style
- Materials and technique
- cotton and pigment, plain weave
- Dimensions
- Overall: 66 x 20.9 x 3.8 cm (26 x 8 1/4 x 1 1/2 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1940.516
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
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.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · The Norweb Collection · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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