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Forehead Ornament
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Nasca figures, like one on a bowl nearby, are shown wearing such forehead ornaments and mouth masks similar to these. The mouth mask hung from the nasal septum, the oval opening surrounding the mouth and the bristles positioned as feline whiskers, here transformed to serpents. Both were cut from sheet gold; details were worked freehand while the sheet rested on a soft surface.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineForehead Ornament, 100 BCE–700 CE. Peru, South Coast, Nasca. Hammered gold alloy; overall: 27.4 x 9.3 cm (10 13/16 x 3 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1940.509
