Collections: Arts of the Americas: Standing Figure Holding a Baby

• Download
• Add to set
• Favorite
• Posse icon
• Share
• Print

Standing Figure Holding a Baby

• Culture: Olmec
• Medium: Jadeite
• Place Made: Mexico
• Dates: 800-500 B.C.E.
• Period: Preclassic or Middle Formative
• Dimensions: 8 5/8 x 3 1/4 x 1 5/8 in. (21.9 x 8.3 x 4.1 cm)
• Collections: Arts of the Americas
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
• Accession Number: L47.6
• Credit Line: Collection of Robin B. Martin
• Image: Overall, L47.6_transp5614.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Olmec. Standing Figure Holding a Baby, 800-500 B.C.E. Jadeite, 8 5/8 x 3 1/4 x 1 5/8 in. (21.9 x 8.3 x 4.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Collection of Robin B. Martin, L47.6 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L47.6_transp5614.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Carved jade standing figure holding a baby with feline features. The adult figure has the typical Olmec drooping-lipped face, flattened head, drilled ear lobes and unclothed body. The sensitively modeled face is serene compared to the animated, snarling expression of the "baby" who has been interpreted as a supernatural being because it wears a headband decorated with two nodules that is a common attribute of the Olmec infant-jaguar deity. The carving may portray an elite figure holding an ancestral or deity image or the Olmec practice of child sacrifice. The carver may have used the dark streak in the jadeite to emphasize the importance of the infant. The piece is exquisitely carved and polished. Condition: excellent except for broken left leg.