Maskette

900-600 B.C.; Olmec, Vera Cruz; Jade; height 12 cm (4 5/8 in.); Founders Society Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund; 85.42

This powerful maskette would have been worn by an Olmec god-king as a pendant during life and buried with him at death. In this culture, jadite was valued above gold as a material, for its rich blue-green color symbolized all-important, life-sustaining water. The snarling mouth and babylike features are associated with a rain-giving water deity. It is rare to find a piece of gem-quality jadite this large, so the maskette would have been a highly prestigious, potent ornament suitable for a king.

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