/internal/media/dispatcher/765795/resize%25253Aformat%25253DthumbnailPortrait mask900–600 BCOverall: 21.6 x 11.4 x 18.7 cm (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 7 3/8 in.)Jadeite with black inclusionsGift of Landon T. Clay1991.9681This life-sized jadeite mask is the portrait of an important Olmec figure, perhaps that of a ruler. It may have been a symbol of state authority, and perhaps served as a funerary mask tied to a burial bundle. Originally, the mask was green, but it turned gray when put into a fire as part of a ritual. It is one of twenty-seven life-sized masks found in a freshwater spring in the Río Pesquero where it meets the Gulf of Mexico in southern Veracruz. The spring contained hundreds of greenstone artifacts, many of which had been ritually burned prior to depositing in the water.Masks21.590000000011.43002286003645101