Object Literature
This good quality and very well-cast mask shows a beautiful middle aged female in very defined detail, calm and serene, at peace with her memory beautifully upheld. The piece isn’t hollowed out to the rear so it is substantial and rather heavier than most masks of this type.
Death masks are an impression or cast of the face of a deceased person, usually made by oiling the skin and taking a plaster cast of the features, and are the most haunting mementos of the deceased. They have been in existence since the time of Tutankhamun, whose solid gold burial mask is an object of extreme beauty and superstition. Such masks could be used either in a funerary effigy or as a model for a posthumous portrait. It was important that a death mask was made as soon as possible after death so that the character of the deceased was captured before the features started to fall.
A very good quality example of sharp, fresh clean lines and particularly pleasing proportions; and truly angelic in its disposition.