Unusual Artifacts: Halloween Editon: George Bernard Shaw’s Death Mask

Death mask of George Bernard Shaw, 1950
The British Museum

The practice of making a plaster mask from the face of a corpse is one that is really no longer employed. However, it was considered quite a normal tradition in previous centuries when personal images were rather difficult to come by. In Britain, death masks were often made of both the famous and the infamous as a way of recording their corporeal presence at the very last minute.


Celebrated writer George Bernard Shaw had a profound effect on both British and world literature. It served to reason that his last countenance should have been preserved. And, so, here he remains today—his jaw loosened by death and his eyes closed in permanent sleep. Happy Halloween.