Any Freepers an expert in Mayan artifacts?

[SunkenCiv]

Oooh, good catch!

http://www.google.com/images?q=olmec+jade&sa=X&oi=image_result_group

[bigheadfred]

This Jade Guatemalan mask is seven inches by five and a half inches, not sure how old it is exactly but at least 100 years old. Don't really know much about it, could be Mayan. Weighs about 4 pounds.

Yeah, those Mayan last century really let the quality slide. Unless, of course, they wanted it to resemble a cheap Chinese knockoff to try to recapture some market share.

[SunkenCiv]

Another concern is, if it were authentic, has it been in private hands (with documented provenance) longer than the current regime of international antiquities laws?

[Bean Counter]

[Bean Counter]

[stars & stripes forever]

You are bringing an invitation for curses into your home by buying artifacts like that.

[Bean Counter]

[Bean Counter]

[Bean Counter]

[Bean Counter]

[Bean Counter]

[Bean Counter]

[BunnySlippers]

Mmm ... I think we can all see the difference.

[BunnySlippers]

Hillary, much, much younger.

[big bad easter bunny]

awesome lead, thanks mucho!

[Kirkwood]

It doesn’t look old. Looks like it was carved with modern tools. I’m no expert, but I never miss an episode of Antiques Roadshow. LOL.

[Kirkwood]

Send a photo to the Mask Man
http://www.masksoftheworld.com/Mysteries%20Solved.htm

[CT]

From what you have shown, I'd say either Olmec, or Ballchinian.

Could one of the people in props get us a Ballchinian, please?

[LibertyNewsForum]

It’s not Mayan, in fact it’s an Olmec ritual stone mask. There’s one posted at the Baratak gallery

http://www.directiques.com/InvDetail.asp?id=1068&doFrame=1

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

It could be Olmec or from the surrounding area but without any provenance (information) about its owners, how they got it, or even from where it came from, it is a very expensive risk to buy it. (For example, I have a carved stone statue that came from “the valley of Guerrero” and a Mayan rattle doll from a gravesite at Campeche, both provenanced from the collection of the former head of the Hecht Company and bought at a certified estate sale).

If I had had $2,000, I could have had an Olmec figure or a Mayan stella (damaged). I had to leave about 12 stelae back at Tikal, Central Plaza and the nearby jungle. Wouldn’t fit in my suitcase (I worked there for a short time).

Without any background information, it is a crap shoot and crap is all you might get. Would need an expert to visually check it out $9,600 is a lot of money to spend on something you can’t verify.