Upper Torso and Head with Mask
Artist:
Unknown
Culture: Olmec
Period: Pre-Columbian
Date: ca. 1150-550 B.C.
Place made:Mexico
General region:North and Central America
Medium: Stone
Dimensions:
height: 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm)
width: 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm)
depth: 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, The D. Joseph Judge, M.D. Collection donated by the Judge Family
Object number: 2001.39.1
Provenance: ex-collection D. Joseph Judge MD; by inheritance to James T. Judge, Pelham, AL, by 2001; by gift to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 2001
Exhibition History: San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas, Treasures from Ancient America: Highlights from the Dom Joseph Judge Collection, February 15-June 15, 2003
Label Text
The front of this figure depicts an individual with wrinkly cheeks and deeply carved eyes and mouth. On the back is another face, this time made with shallow incisions and a down-turned lips. As a whole, the figure likely represents an indiivudal in the state of transformation, an important process among the Olmec associated with shamans (Bernadette Cap, 2022).
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
