Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Guerrero, Mezcala culture (Balsas culture), ca. 700 to 200 BCE. This is a beautiful cut greenstone mask with small, opened mouth and eyes and a prominent nose. Pierced holes in the back and the ears indicate that it may have been worn, or that it may have had gold rings or feathers hooked through it. The symmetry of the eyes and mouth are particularly pleasing; all of these features are classic Mezcala, who are famous for their greenstone masks. Mezcala and the vast city state of Teotihuacan influenced each other, and masks seem to have been a major part of their artistic output. The mask would have been carved using string cutting and the surface abraded using sandstone to make it smoother. Greenstone was more valuable than gold in Mesoamerica, and this would have been a valuable item, perhaps buried with its owner, an important person, to mark their passing and give them identity in the grave. Outside the grave, the dead were sometimes represented in art merely by a mask, or a mask set upon a small pyramid. Masks from this place and period are on display in many museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museo de America in Madrid, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Size: 3.45" W x 4.8" H (8.8 cm x 12.2 cm)

Provenance: Ex-Peter Arnovick collection, San Francisco, CA acquired around 1980

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