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Portrait mask
Olmec
Middle Formative period
900–600 BC
Object Place: Río Pesquero area, Veracruz, Mexico, Los Choapas area
Medium/Technique
Jadeite with black inclusions
Dimensions
Overall: 21.6 x 11.4 x 18.7 cm (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 7 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1991.968
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsMasks
This is one of the finest Olmec masks in a public collection. The naturalistic features of this masterpiece recall monumental Olmec stone heads rendering historical individuals. Perhaps the portrait of a ruler, this may have been a symbol of state authority or a funerary item. The mask originally was green; the gray color was caused by its being put into a fire, as part of a religious ritual.
DescriptionThis 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.
ProvenanceFrom Arroyo Pesquero (also called Río Pesquero), Veracruz, Mexico. August 20, 1970, sold by a dealer in Mexico City to Alphonse Jax (dealer), New York; March 23, 1971, sold by Jax to Landon T. Clay, Boston; 1991, year-end gift of Landon Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 22, 1992)