Old Faces for New Eyes

Two photos of a book titled Old Faces for New Eyes

Old Faces for New Eyes is a board book that I made for my newborn daughter which features curious old faces for curious young eyes with public domain art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Studies have shown that infants process faces long before they recognize other objects. So I decided to curate a number of interesting faces from different eras, cultures, and locations.

Sources

  1. A terracotta cup with illustration of figures and eyes Terracotta kylix: eye-cup (drinking cup) ca. 520 B.C.
  2. A wooden carving of a female face Panel from a Hathor Column after 423 B.C.
  3. A piece of limestone with a subtle relieve of eyes and a mouth Limestone votive relief of eyes and a mouth 4th or 3rd century B.C.
  4. A piece of a glass mosaic with a partial female face Inlay, part of head 100 BC – 100 AD
  5. A black mask with small holes for eyes and mouth Funerary mask 500 B.C. – A.D. 500
  6. A green mask with face with exaggerated figures Face Mask Ornament 6th – 7th century
  7. A circular bowl with a painting of a triangular face Bowl with Face 10th – 13th century
  8. A stone sculpture of a female face Head of a Central Asian Figure 12th – 13th century
  9. An ovular bowl with a small subtle face and ears Bowl with Face 11th – 14th century
  10. Visored armor brass helmet Visored Bascinet ca. 1375 – 1400
  11. A small off-white pendant with a face with a big mouth Pendant 10th – 15th century
  12. A decorative jar with four illustrated faces facing four different directions Jar with Four Faces mid-13th – mid-15th century
  13. A black terracotta sculpture of a human head Memorial Head (Ntiri) 17th century
  14. A mask of a female head with exaggerated features Ko-omote Mask for a Noh Drama 18th century
  15. A enamel-painted copper sculpture of a white face with red blushed cheeks and decorative hat Bonbonnière 1760–70
  16. A mask of a face made of wood and pigment Mask ca. 1870
  17. An illustration of a sun with a face Papierlaternen-Fabrik Riethmüller ca. 1880
  18. A small sculpture of a mask with a man's lopsided face Netsuke of Mask with Man’s Lopsided Face 19th century
  19. A wooden headdress of a face with sharp geometric features Headdress: Janus 19th century
  20. A long wooden board with a face with exaggerated features Door board (jovo) 19th century
  21. A sculpture of a woman's head that is exaggerated vertically Woman’s Head 1912
  22. An abstract illustration of a face created with pencil Lenox Avenue 1938