Identity area
Reference code
IE LMOD 550
Title
1941 James Joyce’s death mask
Date(s)
- Twentieth Century (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
Plaster. 26 x 13 x 18 cm
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
28/07/2011
Content and structure area
Scope and content
White and brown coloured cast of the death mask of James Joyce. Has a protective latex cover.
On 11 January 1941, James Joyce – who was 58 years old – underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer in a Zurich hospital. The following day he fell into a coma, before waking, briefly, and calling for his wife and children. They were still on their way to the hospital when he died 15 minutes later. While two senior Irish diplomats were apparently in Switzerland at the time, neither attended Joyce’s funeral, and the Irish government subsequently declined Nora Joyce’s offer to permit the repatriation of his remains. This facsimile of Joyce’s death mask commemorates our greatest novelist.
