Mask Fragment

Unknown

10th–6th century BCE · Serpentine · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

This greenstone maskette fragment depicts the lower portion of a face with a downturned mouth that is typical of Olmec art from the 1st millennium B.C. The artist incised the cheeks with geometric designs and they were then filled with red pigment. Two holes under the chin could have held pendant beads as part of a larger set of ritual regalia.

Artist

Unknown

Date

10th–6th century BCE

Medium

Serpentine

Culture

Olmec

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979