The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 27, 2024

Pair of Seated Figures

Pair of Seated Figures

100 BCE–300 CE
Average: 52.3 x 30.5 x 29.5 cm (20 9/16 x 12 x 11 5/8 in.); Part 2: 56 x 31.8 x 30.5 cm (22 1/16 x 12 1/2 x 12 in.)

Description

This couple-extremely fine examples of their kind-may commemorate the marriage of an important person, such as a chief, but could also represent siblings of a chiefly family. Whatever their relationship, their unity is conveyed by their physical similarities, including their jewelry, which marks high social station. The female is unusual in nursing an infant, likely a reference to generational renewal and the continuation of noble bloodlines. The significance of the male’s activity-beating a turtle-shell drum- is not understood.
  • ?–1998
    Mrs. Alfred M. [Clara Taplin] Rankin [b. 1917], given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1998–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Townsend, Richard F., and Patricia Rieff Anawalt. Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998. fig. 13, p. 43; cat no. 191
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Acquires Major New Sculpture, Rare Chinese Prints, Contemporary Prints, Drawings & Photographs,” October 30, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
  • The Art and Archaeology of Ancient West Mexico. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (September 26-December 5, 1998); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (January 9-March 2, 1999).
  • {{cite web|title=Pair of Seated Figures|url=false|author=|year=100 BCE–300 CE|access-date=27 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.83