An Olmec Jade Mask

Mesoamerica, Circa 1000-600 B.C.

Height 6 inches (15 cm).

Provenance:

Estate of Robert V. Berg (1931-2018), La Mesa, California.

Art for Eternity, New York, 2018.

[accompanied with a Certificate of Authenticity from John R. Jordan]

Olmec stone masks are among the most important, rare and sought-after objects from ancient Mesoamerica. There are two categories of masks, either supernatural or human masks. These categories are further broken into types. Human masks are broadly categorized as portrait masks or as stylized masks. Most all masks come from the Olmec heartland of Veracruz and Tabasco in the Gulf Coast Lowlands and Olmec sites in the state of Guerrero in the Central Mexican Highlands.

This life-sized human mask is of the portrait type. Its naturalist features recall portraits of powerful Olmec rulers depicted on the Colossal Stone Heads of San Lorenzo and La Venta. While some human masks have no openings in the eyes, nostrils or mouths, this example is perforated and was most likely worn by an individual.

Robert "Bob" V. Berg was a professor at San Diego State University and a known collector of Ethnographic Art. A few of his pieces are documented in the Who's Who in Indian Relics series no. 10. and had a collection sale at Heritage Auctions, Texas on 8 July 2016.

Inspected under UV light and 10x loupe. Intact. Minor surface wear or abrasions as is typical with age; some soil or sediment present within the crevices. Stylized piercing holes to both ears and at the top of the head to each side. Accompanied by a custom modern metal and wood mount/base. Overall in attractive and stable condition.

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Jacob Coley

Senior Vice President, Head of Department, Antiquities and Ancient Art

[email protected]312 280 1212

Mr. Coley joined the Antiquities department in 2021 after working as Managing Director in the Ancient Art department at Colnaghi, the world’s oldest commercial art gallery, where he helped to establish the Ancient Art department and launched Colnaghi New York in 2017. Prior to Colnaghi, Mr. Coley was in the Greek and Roman Art department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Coley holds a B.A. from the University of Miami and an M.A. in Art Market from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and he earned an art-appraisal certificate from New York University.

Ancient Art & Natural History: A Cabinet of Curiosities

An Olmec Jade Mask

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