Nazca
Peru
Mouth mask, 200–600
Hammered gold, cinnabar
8 x 9 inches
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Mrs. Paul Wattis Fund, 1992.33

This elaborate mouth mask of thinly hammered sheet gold was part of the ceremonial costume of a man of high rank in Nazca society. It was coated in cinnabar, a precious red pigment. The circular opening in the middle of the mask surrounded the wearer’s mouth, and its end sections fit into the septum to hold it in place. The long feline whiskers end in the heads of serpents, thus combining two powerful animals in this symbol of religious association and social rank.