Shell Mosaic Ritual Mask
Teotihuacan
300–600 CE
Medium
Stone and spondylus shell with stucco
Dimensions
18 × 21 × 11 cm (7 1/8 × 8 1/4 × 4 5/16 in.)
Classification
masks
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
212967
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Teotihuacan, the ruins of which are located near Mexico City, was one of the largest and most complex cities in the world during the first millennium AD. Although this mask shares features common to others from the city—a broad forehead, prominent nose, receding chin, and widely spaced cheekbones—it is subtly unique, indicating that it may represent a stylized portrait. Tied to wooden armatures adorned with feathers, jewelry, and garments, such masks were displayed in residential compounds and t...