AN EXPRESSIVE AND FINELY WORKED FUNERARY MASK OF A MAN, WESTERN ASIA, POSSIBLY 2ND–1ST MILLENNIUM BC

Expert’s Note: Gold funerary masks are best known from the Aegean world, notably the celebrated examples from Mycenae (ca. 1600–1500 BC). Yet comparable traditions existed further east: elite burials at Alacahöyük in Anatolia (ca. 2500–2200 BC) yielded gold diadems and facial ornaments, while a solid gold mask from Hasanlu in northwestern Iran (ca. 800 BC) demonstrates the continuation of this practice into the Iron Age. Similar gold masks have also been found among the Urartians, Scythians, and Thracians, suggesting that the use of gold to sanctify and preserve the visage of the dead was a widespread funerary custom across Western Asia. In ancient China, elite burials often included facial masks, most famously the gold burial masks of the Liao dynasty (10th–12th century AD) and the earlier jade funerary masks of the Han dynasty (2nd–1st century BC).
In this context, the appearance of a mask resembling the famous Mask of Agamemnon as strongly as the present lot but found much further east is plausible. The idea of covering the face of the deceased in precious metal appears to have traveled across cultures, with local adaptations shaping the specific form. While the resemblance to the Mycenaean mask is striking, it could be understood as part of a broader regional phenomenon rather than a direct imitation.
Since this mask does not derive from a controlled excavation, its dating must remain hypothetical.
For cataloging purposes, it can be placed broadly in Western Asia, possibly 2nd–1st millennium BC. Nonetheless, its antiquity is suggested by both material and condition: metallurgical analysis shows an alloy of 72.70% gold, 24.37% silver, 2.37% copper, and 0.55% manganese, consistent with ancient compositions, while the surface exhibits wear, minor losses, dents, warping, tears, nicks, and soil encrustations typical of burial. Taken together, these features indicate an ancient origin, even if precise cultural attribution and dating must remain completely open at this time.

The gold sheet is worked in repoussé to depict the imposing face of a bearded man, with closed, almond-shaped eyes beneath bushy brows and flanked by stylized ears.

Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Fair condition, commensurate with age. With ancient wear, minor losses, small dents, warping, tears, nicks, and signs of burial including soil encrustations.
Alloy composition range: 72.70% gold, 24.37% silver, 2.37% copper, 0.55% Manganese. The lot was tested by the Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.

Weight: 42 g
Dimensions: Height 18.4 cm

The present mask resembles the gold death mask discovered at Mycenae in 1876 by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (see literature comparison below). Commonly referred to as the “Mask of Agamemnon,” it actually dates to the 16th century BC—around 300 years before the Trojan War. Such masks were likely created for warrior-kings or individuals of high rank, and examples of this kind have been found exclusively in graves at Mycenae.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related gold death-mask, also known as ‘mask of Agamemnon’, Mycenae, Greek, 16th century BC, in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

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