This Olmec style mask is incredibly thin and polished to a high shine. Beneath the strong forehead, curving into steep eyebrows, there are only set-back quadrilateral shapes to show the location of the eyes. Two holes drilled vertically upwards into the base of the nose form the nostrils. There are sharp diagonal lines on each cheek, framing the downturned mouth, which has two circles at each corner. The rectangular ears have pierced holes in the lobes, and there are also holes in the temples. This would have allowed the mask to be suspended and perhaps worn by its owner.

The Olmec civilisation was one of the earliest civilisations in Mesoamerica, lasting from around 1600 to 400 BCE, and it was based in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. They are thought to have invented several Mesoamerican traditions such as bloodletting and the Mesoamerican ballgame, as well as possibly the Mesoamerican calendar, zero, and popcorn. Their first important centre was in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, and after that it appears to have moved to La Venta. The region provided many advantages for a burgeoning civilisation, such as alluvial soil which can be highly fertile, and access to the Coatzacoalcos River basin, which offered opportunities for transportation. The dense population which formed in this area is thought to have led to the rise of an elite group, creating demand for luxury items made of high-value materials which came to characterise Olmec culture.