Cleveland Museum of Art

Elongated Mask Ornament

Date

c. 900–300 BCE

Medium

greenstone

Culture

Mesoamerica, Mexico, Olmec

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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.

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