Artwork Page for Elongated Mask Ornament

Details / Information for Elongated Mask Ornament

Elongated Mask Ornament

c. 900–300 BCE

Mesoamerica, Mexico, Olmec

Medium
greenstone
Measurements
Overall: 13.8 cm (5 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James B. Wadhams in memory of Miss Helen Humphreys 1967.154
Public Domain
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Location
233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Print

Description

Small masks made of precious media-especially greenstone, which Mesoamerican people valued above most other materials-likely served as elements of Olmec elite regalia. Such masks commonly depict human faces, although it is unclear whether the creature shown on this unusual example is human or supernatural. It may be a late work.
A greenstone, a mottled dark-green rock with black spots, depicts a vertically elongated face. A band with a circular indentation crosses the forehead above almond-shaped eye holes and a wide nose. The mouth is open and downturned. Below the chin, an incised bar sits above a rounded tab carved with three concentric semicircles. Where the stone is carved out for the eyes and mouth, it appears pale green.

Elongated Mask Ornament

c. 900–300 BCE

Mesoamerica, Mexico, Olmec

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