ESCUTCHEON MASK

Description This hollow zoomorphic mask likely served as an escutcheon mask in a funerary context. The muzzle features on the mask are made in strong relief, with small straight ears applied to the top of the head. It has large, square eyes, thick, arched eyebrows, a broad, flat nose, a huge, deformed mouth with an upper dental arch, and exposed lower canines. The monster's round muzzle is framed, from temple to temple, by the stylized curls of his beard. It is entirely painted in symmetrical patches on white slip, with soft shades of grey, beige and black lines. The apotropaic function of the object is mediated by a certain expression between the sad and the good-natured of the depicted creature.