UNUSUAL ANTIQUE HEAVY BRONZE CAST DEATH MASK CIR. EARLY 1800 ' S, AUTHENTIC RARE
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:31069075 | Age: 1800-1849 |
| Original/Reproduction: Original |
Up for auction is an amazing historical treasure, a rare Heavy Bronze Casted Death Mask of an unknown individual. It is in excellent condition with no noticeable damage or flaws. It is a very high quality cast with high detail circa early to mid 1800's. It came out of an estate in Orange County, California. We believe this mask to be certainly within that time period, before the invention of photography. Unknown foundry and edition size or visible markings, very rare item. Appropri...ate wear for the age, very minor scratches with no noticeable defects, in excellent condition it is ready to hang or display. It measures about 9" x 5 1/2" and it weighs just over 5 pounds. Thanks for looking and please feel free to ask any questions.! From Wikipedia: A death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person' s face following death. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It is sometimes possible to identify portraits that have been painted from death masks, because of the characteristic slight distortions of the features caused by the weight of the plaster during the making of the mold. In other cultures a death mask may be a clay or another artifact placed on the face of the deceased before burial rites. The best known of these are the masks used by ancient Egyptians as part of the mummification process, such as Tutankhamun's burial mask.In the seventeenth century in some European countries, it was common for death masks to be used as part of the effigy of the deceased, displayed at state funerals. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they were also used to permanently record the features of unknown corpses for purposes of identification. This function was later replaced by photography.
