The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Seated Figure

Seated Figure

c. 900–300 BCE
Overall: 11 x 6.2 x 3.9 cm (4 5/16 x 2 7/16 x 1 9/16 in.)

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.
  • 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
  • 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."
    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.
    The Art of the Olmec Civilization. National Gallery of Art (organizer) (June 30-October 20, 1996).
    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).
    Pre-Columbian Art of the Gulf States. Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL (organizer) (January 11-February 11, 1973).
    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.
    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."
    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.
    Cincinnati, OH: The Taft Museum; October 6-November 19, 1950. "Ancient American Jade and Gold." exh. cat. no. 1.
    Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946).
    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.
    Toledo, OH: The Museum of Art; January 1944. "The Ancient Art of the North American Continent."
  • {{cite web|title=Seated Figure|url=false|author=|year=c. 900–300 BCE|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1941.390