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Mask

ca. 800 BCE (fabrication); 1469–1481 CE (deposition)

Not on view

This Olmec-style mask was either passed down as an ancestral heirloom or excavated during Mexica times. Such works signal the Mexica reverence for greenstone and for antiquities from illustrious civilizations of the past.

Estas máscaras de jade son parte de la gran cantidad de ofrendas encontradas en el Templo Mayor. La mascar del estilo olmeca de fue o bien transmitido como herencia ancestral o bien excavado en la época mexica. Estos objetos recalcan la veneración que tenían los mexicas por el jade y por los objetos antiguos que pertenecían a civilizaciones pasadas ilustres.

Mask, Hornblende hornfels, Olmec style — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Mask

Date: ca. 800 BCE (fabrication); 1469–1481 CE (deposition)

Geography: Mexico, Guerrero; Mexico, Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)

Culture: Olmec style

Medium: Hornblende hornfels

Dimensions: H. 4 1/4 × W. 3 3/8 × D. 1 1/4 in. (10.8 × 8.6 × 3.2 cm)

Classifications: Stone Sculpture, Masks

Credit Line: Museo del Templo Mayor, Secretaría de Cultura-INAH, Mexico City (10-168803)

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.