The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Standing Female Figure

c. 1000–1500

Mexico, Gulf Coast, Huastec

stone
Overall: 70 x 33 x 22.5 cm (27 9/16 x 13 x 8 7/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.169
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The position of the figure’s hands on her belly may suggest motherhood.

Description

The female depicted in this sculpture wears a serpent-maw headdress—the female’s head appears within the jaws of the serpent, whose eyes can be seen on the “fan” of stone around the head. Many elite Mesoamerican people of the period are shown wearing similar headdresses, suggesting that such sculptures represent noble women. In the past, they have been interpreted as supernatural beings.
  • ?-1969
    John A. Stokes, Upper Nyack, NY, gift to James C. and Florence C. Gruener
    1969-1990
    James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1990
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. Referenced: cat. no. 99, p. 273, Reproduced: fig. 99, p. 261 www.jstor.org
  • The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).
  • {{cite web|title=Standing Female Figure|url=false|author=|year=c. 1000–1500|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.169