Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Pampa Grande, ca. 550 to 700 CE. An impressively preserved, enigmatic, hammered-copper funerary mask representing the stylized head of an elite woman or man, with features delineated in deep repousse, including large, mesmerizing almond- shaped eyes, each one lined with well-defined lids and arched brows, a pronounced regal nose pierced for a nosering, pursed lips flanked by nasolabial folds, and large flanged ears pierced for ornaments. Original surface with a green cupric oxide patination. Heidi King in the book The Spirit of Ancient Peru says, "The Moche people were among the most skilled and innovative metalsmiths in the Americas. The Moche valued copper highly and placed copper items in important burials as evidence in recently excavated tombs at the site of Sipan." Size: 9.75" W x 7.5" H (24.8 cm x 19 cm); 9.5" H (24.1 cm) on included custom stand.

This mask has been associated with Pampa Grande, an archaeological site of the Lambayeque Valley in northern Peru. According to scholars, the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro marveled at the site in the early 1530s when he camped there en route to Cajamarca and the eventual conquest of the Inca Empire. It is also known for the discovery of seven extraordinary gold jaguars on the site of the Huaca of Pampa Grande. These gold jaguars are now housed in various museums of the US, Canada, Germany, and Peru.

See a similar example, though with shell inlays, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - accession number 1987.394.68

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex private Brooklyn, New York, USA collection; ex Sotheby’s, Parke-Bernet New York, sale number 3342, lot 93 - April 8, 1972; ex Alan Lapiner's Art of the Four Quarters, Illustrated with nose ring (now missing)

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#162136

Missing ornaments intended for perforations through ears and nose. Expected nicks/losses/tears to peripheries of ears. Periphery at upper proper right corner of visage is a tad bent and shows crease mark. Two small cracks to underside of nose - distinct from perforations intended for nose ring. Four intentional perforations at peripheries for attaching mask. Verso shows some staining and texile impressions. Old collection label on verso. Copper has developed a beautiful green patina.