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Additional Views

Oct 5, 2011

Seated Figure

c. 900–300 BC

Mexico, Olmec, 1200-300 BC

Albitite

Overall: 11 x 6.2 x 3.9 cm (4 5/16 x 2 7/16 x 1 9/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1941.390

Location

233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Description

Like their contemporaries, the Olmec made figurines but of greenstone rather than clay. This one, whose identity and use are mysterious, holds objects that may address nature's fertility: on the right, perhaps a cut conch shell that refers to water, and on the left, what may be a plant or a bundle of green feathers that symbolizes new vegetation.

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 375 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 290 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 290 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 392 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 6 archive.org

Exhibition history

Toledo, OH: The Museum of Art; January 1944. "The Ancient Art of the North American Continent."

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946. "Art of the Americas." repr. in catalogue, black and white, p. 29.

Cincinnati, OH: The Taft Museum; October 6-November 19, 1950. "Ancient American Jade and Gold." exh. cat. no. 1.

Palm Beach, FL: The Society of the Four Arts; January 10 - February 1,1953. "Pre-Columbian Art: The Native Art of America Before the Conquest." Cat. no. 2, no repr.

Munich, Germany: Haus der Kunst; October 17-December 12, 1958. exh. cat. no. 326, repr. black and white pl. 40a. Zurich, Switzerland; Kunsthaus; January 1- February 28, 1959. exh. cat. no. 31, repr. black and white pl. 8a.
Paris, France: Galerie Charpentier; March 15- May 15, 1959. exh. cat. no. 18. The Netherlands: The Hague; June1- July 31, 1959. Berlin, Germany: Academie der Kunst; October 3- November 22, 1959. Circulating exhibition of "Pre- Columbian Art from Mexico and Central America."

Coral Gables, FL: Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami; January 11-February 11, 1973. "Pre- Colombian Art of the Gulf States." exh. cat. no. 43, repr. p. 23.

New York, NY: The Museum of Modern Art. "Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art." exh. cat. no. 2, p. 32, exh. cat. no. 3, p. 34.

Los Angeles, CA: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; September 26, 2010- January 9, 2011. San Francisco, CA: The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; February 19- May 30, 2011. "Olmec: Collossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico."

Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946).

Pre-Columbian Art of the Gulf States. Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL (organizer) (January 11-February 11, 1973).

The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership. Princeton University Art Museum (organizer) (December 16, 1995-March 3, 1996); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (April 7-June 9, 1996).

The Art of the Olmec Civilization. National Gallery of Art (organizer) (June 30-October 20, 1996).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Seated Figure|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1941.390|year=c. 900–300 BC|access-date=09 June 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Seated Figure

Seated Figure

Mexico, Olmec, 1200-300 BC

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