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.
Credit: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
10th-6th century B.C.
Serpentine
6.1 x 5.9 x 3.8 cm
1979.206.563
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection