158 - A DARK GREENSTONE WERE-JAGUAR MASK, OLMEC CULTURE, MIDDLE PRECLASSIC PERIOD, CIRCA 900–400 BC

A DARK GREENSTONE WERE-JAGUAR MASK, OLMEC CULTURE, MIDDLE PRECLASSIC PERIOD, CIRCA 900–400 BC Southern Mexico. Finely carved and carefully polished, the compact mask displaying the powerful and highly stylized features associated with the Olmec were-jaguar. The broad, almost rectangular face is centered by a wide flattened nose above the characteristic open mouth, framed by thick fleshy lips with sharply downturned corners. The deeply recessed, narrow eyes are drilled at either end and pierced through the pupils, beneath prominent arched brows, while the elongated ears are pierced for suspension. The strongly modeled cheeks and pronounced mouth lend the face an intense, almost transformative expression. The opaque stone is attractively mottled in deep green and brown tones with lighter brown inclusions and scattered black markings. Provenance: Private collection, San Salvador, El Salvador, and thence by inheritance to Ali von Mertz, Florida, United States. Wolf’s Museum of Mystery, St. Augustine, Florida, United States. Martin Doustar, Brussels, Belgium, acquired from the above. Wolf's Museum of Mystery was an eccentric, two-story oddities collection in St. Augustine, Florida, operated by Wolfgang ‘Wolf’ von Mertz and his wife Ali ‘Lilly’. The museum was filled with unusual artifacts, including taxidermy, Marilyn Monroe trading cards, an Alaskan war mask, and John Wayne Gacy's Bible. After a devastating fire in February 2019, most of the collection was lost except for a few stone and metal artifacts including the present mask. Martin Doustar is a Brussels-based art dealer and collector whose career spans more than two decades. He began his professional journey in the early 2000s with a focus on Modern Art, developing a keen interest in the ways early twentieth-century artists were influenced by ‘primitive’ art from Africa and Oceania. Over time, his connoisseurship expanded into archaeological and ethnographic fields, with particular expertise in the ancient arts of the Pacific, Africa, and pre-Columbian America, while also encompassing Asian material culture and modern masterpieces. He is the author of numerous scholarly catalogs and has organized thematic exhibitions on a wide range of subjects. Condition: Good condition with expected ancient wear, faint traces of fire, few natural fissures, and minor erosion to the stone. Weight: 835 g Dimensions: Length 16.4 cm The Olmec were Mesoamerica's greatest lapidaries; their work in jade and serpentine was prized by both contemporary and later Mesoamerican cultures. Human beings with jaguar traits, such as the downturned mouth of this figurine, are common in Olmec art. Such creatures were probably believed to possess supernatural powers. Long before the rise of the Maya and Aztec, the Olmec established one of the foundational artistic traditions of ancient Mesoamerica. Celebrated as Mesoamerica’s earliest major civilization and often regarded as its “mother culture,” the Olmec produced monumental stone sculptures, animated clay figures, and finely worked objects in hard stone. Their lapidaries mastered the carving of jade, serpentine, and other precious materials to create figures, masks, celts, and personal ornaments for the ruling elite. While deeply rooted in the human form, Olmec art also gave powerful expression to composite supernatural beings, whose forms range from strikingly naturalistic to highly abstract. Literature comparison: Compare a related Olmec greenstone were-jaguar mask, Mexico, dated middle formative, 800 BC-300 BC, 13.5 cm tall, in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, accession number PC5-1980. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 14 May 2010, lot 34 Price: USD 46,875 or approx. EUR 62,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: Olmec greenstone mask, Puebla region, Middle Preclassic, ca. 900-600 B.C. Expert remark: Compare the similar facial features and manner of carving.