MAYA - Mask

Mask representing a Human Face - MAYA - Mexico 450 - 850 A.D.

Height : 22.1 cm

Width : 17.8 cm

Depth : 8.8 cm

Spotted green omphacite jadeite with brown-red patina

Documents (originals) provided to the acquirer:

- Certificate of authenticity of the Galerie Mermoz,

Santo Micali, Expert, (CNE) Compagnie Nationale des Experts

- Certificate of Art Loss Register

- Passport of free circulation

- Microanalysis report

- Invoice

This remarkable mask testifies to the artistic and technical heights reached by Maya artists, particularly in the work of jade, an extremely hard sacred stone, dedicated to ritual offerings and prestigious objects, exclusively for kings and lords. It deserves special attention for the beauty of its stone, its large size and the refinement of its naturalistic physiognomy, brilliantly restored, perfect expression of the values of this great civilization.

The harmonious head is perfectly oval. The high and receding forehead is the consequence of a ritual deformation, a widespread practice within the dominant social classes for whom it probably represented a sign of nobility, an ideal of beauty and an ode to fertility because of the oblong shape of the head, reminiscent of an ear of corn, a vital and sacred plant. The convexity of the face that results from this tabular modification appears clearly on the bas-reliefs where the dignitaries are generally sculpted from the side, with sumptuous very high headdresses that prolong and accentuate the arc of the profile.