ANTHROPOMORPHIC STATUETTE Olmec culture, Mexico Middle
Pre-Classical, 900-400 B.C.
Dark green serpentine
H. 20 cm - W. 8.1 cm
Olmec standing figure, dark green serpentine,
Mexico, H. 7 7/8 in - W. 3 3/16 in
Provenance:
Private American Collection
Acquired by the current owner in 1993
Merrin Gallery, New York
Curtis Katz, New York
Ronald Gilbert, New York Merrin
Gallery, New York
Photographed by Justin Kerr in his logbook in February 1988, #K3853
John Hauberg, Seattle, acquired before 1970
Galerie André Emmerich, New York (OM48), acquired at the same time as the kneeling transforming figure of Olmec culture exhibited at the Dumbarton Oaks (OM47), January 1969
Ferninand Ries, Frankfurt, acquired in the 1920s
Publication:
Kerr, Justin, A Pre-Columbian Portfolio: An Archive of Photographs, mayavase.com, n° 3853 added 22/06/2002
Sculpted with finesse and superbly polished, this statuette embodies the serene and discreet aspect of small Olmec sculptures. Standing upright, this high-ranking sovereign or lord has the cranial deformity typical of the elite.
It belongs to the universal type of jadeite and serpentine statuettes that have been discovered at La Venta and other Olmec sites in the form of funerary offerings grouped in a vertical position and associated with small green stone axes.
Offering 4 of La Venta contained six votive axes and sixteen figurines. This grouping of statuettes suggests a gathering of elite members in a ceremonial context. And like most offerings, those of the Venta were covered with cinnabar before being buried.
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