The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 22, 2019

Head Fragment

c. 900-300 BC

Mexico, Olmec, 1200-300 BC

Jadeite

Overall: 7.4 x 6.2 x 5 cm (2 15/16 x 2 7/16 x 1 15/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1961.31

Location

233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Description

This sensual head fragment may come from a seated or standing figure like those shown nearby, though much larger. The carving is exceptionally fine, from the slight under-eye puffiness to the delineation of the fleshy lips and the teeth. The profile face of supernatural being is incised just in front of each ear, perhaps indicating that the subject had special power.

Citations
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. 393 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

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. 9, no repr.

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; June 7-September 8, 1991."Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates and Art Museum."

Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art; June 30-October 20, 1996. "Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico." cat. no. 59, p. 221, color.

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

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 1-26, 1961).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

Source URL: https://cmaweb23-bbn-2.clevelandart.org/art/1961.31