Mochica Sculptural Nose Ornaments

Room 11, Vitrine 138

Metal
Peruvian Northern Coast
Florescent Epoch (1 AD – 800 AD)
ML100046, ML100047, ML100048, ML100049, ML100050, ML100751, ML100752, ML100753, ML100851, ML100854, ML100866, ML101040.

Among the personal ornaments of the political and religious leaders of Mochica society, nose ornaments were particularly significant. They were used as a clear indication of the status of those who wore them, as well as to ritually transform those individuals into supernatural beings. Some nose ornaments resemble the whiskers of felines, while others display the symbols associated with the decapitator gods of the Mochica pantheon, with the characteristic V-shape which also appears on the headdresses of some individuals.

Dozens of these ornaments have been found in the tombs of individual members of the Mochica elite; it should be mentioned that nose ornaments, in common with ear ornaments, were not exclusively used by the male members of the elite, but also by great ladies and priestesses.

Gold, gilded copper and silver were used to make these nose ornaments. Bimetallic nose ornaments made from gold and silver illustrated the concept of duality so essential to the Andean world view.