This beautiful dark green stone mask was made by a master carver of the Olmec people, towards the beginning of the first millennium AD. Depicting an open-mouthed male with hollow eyes and stylised features, masks such as this were probably never worn, and were instead used as votive objects, serving a ritual purpose within the society, and perhaps also an apotropaic or funerary role. The mask is very highly-finished. The proportions are angular, with a straight superior border, a rounded jawline and almost vertical sides to the face. The narrow eyes arch gently downwards at the sides, the nose has shallow hollowed-out nostrils, and the mouth is arranged in the classical manner with the upper lip deflected backwards – exposing the upper teeth – in what is usually known as a “baby-faced” configuration. This may be a therianthropic device; Olmec were-jaguars are a fuller expression of the same notion. The mask has angular ears with elevated rims and pierced lobes, and there are piercings at the top perimeter of the mask. The care to detail is impressive, but the manner in which the disparate naturalistic and expressionistic elements have been combined with bold lines and flawless finish makes this a truly remarkable piece of ancient art.

The Olmecs are generally considered to be the ultimate ancestor of all subsequent Mesoamerican civilisations. Thriving between about 1200 and 400 BC, their base was the tropical lowlands of south central Mexico, an area characterized by swamps punctuated by low hill ridges and volcanoes. Here the Olmecs practiced advanced farming techniques and constructed many permanent settlements. Their influence, both cultural and political, extended far beyond their boundaries; the exotic nature of Olmec designs became synonymous with elite status in other (predominantly highland) groups, with evidence for exchange of artefacts in both directions. Other than their art (see below), they are credited with the foundations of writing systems (the loosely defined Epi-Olmec period, c. 500 BC), the first use of the zero – so instrumental in the Maya long count vigesimal calendrical system – and they also appear to have been the originators of the famous Mesoamerican ballgame so prevalent among later cultures in the region.

The art form for which the Olmecs are best known, the monumental stone heads weighing up to forty tons, are generally believed to depict kingly leaders or possibly ancestors. Other symbols abound in their stylistic repertoire, including several presumably religious symbols such as the feathered serpent and the rain spirit, which persisted in subsequent and related cultures until the middle ages. Comparatively little is known of their magico-religious world, although the clues that we have are tantalising. Technically, these include all non-secular items, of which there is a fascinating array. The best- known forms are jade and ceramic figures and celts that depict men, animals and fantastical beasts with both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic characteristics. Their size and general appearance suggests that they were domestically- or institutionally-based totems or divinities. The quality of production is astonishing, particularly if one considers the technology available, the early date of the pieces, and the dearth of earlier works upon which the Olmec sculptors could draw. Some pieces are highly stylised, while others demonstrate striking naturalism with deliberate expressionist interpretation of some facial features (notably up-turned mouths and slit eyes) that can be clearly seen in the current figure.

This piece is as enigmatic as any other in the Olmec repertoire. It displays characteristics that are human and animal, naturalistic and expressionistic, refined and powerful, and its putative use is just as hard to ascertain. It could be a portrait, a representation of a deity/spirit, a talismanic/apotropaic item or a thoroughly arbitrary exercise in the creative arts by a sculptor of exceptional talent. The first and the last of these options are unlikely, as the investment of time required to make such a dramatic object preclude doodling, while we lack the ability to accurately identify portraits and to distinguish them from other anthropomorphic representations. The piece is fairly naturalistic when considered against the corpus of Olmec pieces, and it is therefore possible that it does represent a real person. However, the interpretationalist aspects of the face and the enormous amount of time that would have to be expended in its manufacture makes it unlikely to be a merely secular or purely sycophantic work. It is therefore likely to have had some ritualistic role in Olmec society, perhaps belonging to a person or institution involved with otherwordly affairs (such as a shaman). Like most Olmec pieces, one derives a sense of power and even aggression from this piece, despite the serenely smooth finish and colouring. While we know little about the details of Olmec society, one might conjecture that the urge to wrench an urbanised society from the swamps of Mexico would demand a rather aggressive, authoritative, determined disposition, just like that reflected in this superb mask.