Stone Maskette

This maskette is carved from a dark, olive-green porphyry mottled with pale brown inclusions. In spite of its rather shallow relief, the piece conveys a strongly sculptural, almost muscular quality with gently rounded masses marked with broad and shallow indentations, an effect enhanced by the gleaming polished surfaces. The maskette was carved using a variety of techniques, including drilling, string sawing, and broad and fine line incision. Along with supplying suspension holes at the sides of the maskette, solid-core drills carved the six shallow whisker holes on the cheeks and two indentations on the upper lip. A series of eleven minute holes were drilled near the right corner of the mouth, with two others on the opposite side. Although clearly intentional, the meaning of these curious holes remains unknown. The hole closest to the right corner of the mouth contains an iron pyrite inlay, and it is quite possible that other portions of the sculpture—such as the whisker holes, eyes, and projecting central element—were also inlaid with iron pyrite, which would beautifully complement the dark stone. The corners of the mouth were carved with large solid-core drills. The better-preserved proper right side of the mouth suggests the mouth corners were opened by string sawing, beginning in the region of the large holes. Fine line incision defines large rounded masses and delineates the nose and portions of the upward-projecting central element. The slightly concave back of the maskette is entirely smooth.

Although at first sight the maskette may look like a pendant, it was probably a diadem tied to the center of the brow (Fuente 1992:fig. 10; Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim 1986:no. 10). Along with a biconically drilled hole behind the projecting central element, two pairs of suspension holes are placed at the sides, indicating that the item was probably bound against the body. Moreover, the smooth and gently concave back is well-suited to fit comfortably against the brow.

The maskette has generally been interpreted as a jaguar face lacking the lower jaw (Bliss 1957:235; Fuente 1992:fig. 10; Roemer- und Pelizeaus-Museum Hildesheim 1986:no. 10). The form of the mouth area is notably similar to the “earth maw” toponymic sign of early southeastern Mesoamerican writing and art. Through a form of visual punning, however, this maskette also displays a major avian component. Along with the frontal jaguar face, there are two profile bird heads facing away from the center, with each jaguar eye doubling as the eye of a bird. The curving corners of the jaguar mouth double as the raptorial beaks of the bird profiles, and the lower set of suspension holes serves as the nostrils for the beaks. A very similar avian profile appears in a fine Olmec jadeite pendant in the form of a raptorial bird. Along with a sharply downcurved beak, the head also has a heavy brow furrowed with shallow indentations, quite like the indentations on the brow of PC.B.004. The projecting central element is an avian crest; its sinuous profile is identical to Olmec representations of feathered crests, including examples with anthropomorphic figures possessing both avian and feline attributes. PC.B.004 could well refer to the same composite being.

The profile heads on PC.B.004 may depict an especially early form of the mythical avian entity known as the principal bird deity in the Maya region, and as “el ave de Pico Ancho” among Zapotec specialists (Miller and Taube 1993:137–138; Taube 1987). Becoming popular during the first century BCE, this being typically has a large incurved beak—virtually identical to the profiles on PC.B.004. One Classic Zapotec motif features outward-facing profiles of "el ave de Pico Ancho" joined at the eye; with its incurving beaks, it is notably similar to PC.B.004. In addition, the Zapotec beaks typically flank a toothy, fanged upper maw, probably alluding to the same jaguar mouth as PC.B.004. Terming it the “Jaws of the Sky,” Alfonso Caso (1928) identifies the Zapotec motif as a celestial sign.

The "Jaws of the Sky" is very similar to another Zapotec motif commonly referred to as Glyph C. In fact, in his discussion of Glyph C, Howard Leigh (1966) makes no distinction between the two signs. Along with a central eye, feather crest, and profile beaks, Glyph C is typically supplied with fangs at its base, probably again referring to both bird and jaguar. The crest sometimes has a central feather-like spike, immediately recalling the central projecting element of PC.B.004. On Classic Zapotec urns, Glyph C commonly appears as a diadem on the brow of the rain god Cocijo, on the maize god, and on other Zapotec deities of agricultural fertility (Caso and Bernal 1952:17–25, 91–100). According to Leigh (1966:262), Glyph C represented the day name Water only during the Protoclassic Monte Albán II and Epoca de Transición periods. However, Glyph C always served as the Zapotec sign for the day Water. Thus, during Early Classic Monte Albán IIIa, the sign still appears with the wavy water band. Moreover, the Late Postclassic Mixtec day sign Water clearly derives from Glyph C and retains the curving beak profile form and fangs. The combination of terrestrial jaguar and celestial bird on PC.B.004 suggests a merging of sky and earth, and there appears to have been a similar conflation of jaguar and sky imagery among the Olmec and later cultures of southeastern Mesoamerica. An important Olmec cosmic motif is a jaguar lifting a celestial serpent with avian attributes, a theme also found on the Late Formative Tres Zapotes Stela D (see also Feuchtwanger 1989:fig. 94; Taube 1995:fig. 13); I have suggested the jaguar lifting the serpent may constitute a rainmaking act for the Olmec (Taube 1995:101). Like the later Glyph C diadems of the Zapotec, PC.B.004 may have embodied the concept of celestial rain. Among both the Olmec and Protoclassic Maya, stone diadems are often represented as rain jewels dripping precious beads of water (Grove 1989a:134; Taube 1995:99). PC.B.004 is especially similar to Zapotec iconography; the piece recalls an early stone mask of Cocijo of similar style and workmanship. Although these two objects evoke Olmec stylistic canons, they were probably both manufactured in the Oaxaca region.

Ancient American Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California, April–June 1942, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California, July–August 1942, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon, September–October 1942

Indigenous Art of the Americas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1947–1948, 1952–1956, 1960–1962

Glanz und Untergang des alten Mexiko: Die Azteken und ihre Vorläufer, Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim, Hildesheim, Germany, June–November 1986, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany, December 1986–March 1987, Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Linz, Austria, April–August 1987, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark, August–November 1987, Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, Belgium, December 1987–March 1988, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece, May–July 1988, Société du Palais de la civilisation, Montreal, Canada, July–October 1988

The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, October 1992–January 1993, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, Texas, February–April 1993, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, June–August 1993