Knotted Rattlesnake Artist: Unknown

1325–1521

Art of the Ancient Americas

On view, 1st floor, Art of the Ancient Americas

Medium

Volcanic stone with traces of pigment

Dimensions

15.24 × 40.64 × 35.56 cm (6 × 16 × 14 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mark Landrum, B.A. 1961

Accession Number

2015.70.19

Geography

Mexico

Culture

Mexico, Aztec

Period

Late Postclassic Period

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Bought from Douglas Dawson Ethnographic Arts, Chicago Ill. May 24, 2006.
Collected by Harold Thomas of California in the 1950s. Thomas was an electrical engineer who was working on the electrical grid and power plants in Mexico City. It is likely that the projects that Thomas oversaw unearthed this as well as numerous other objects at that time. This piece has been in the possession of Thomas' heirs since he acquired it in the 1950s.
Bibliography

  • Lily Higgins, "Sculpting Nature: An Aztec Rattlesnake in Stone," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2017): 78, fig. 1.
  • "Acquisitions July 1, 2015–June 30, 2016," https://artgallery.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Pub_Bull_acquisitions_2016.pdf (accessed December 1, 2016).
  • Felipe Solis, ed., The Aztec Empire, Curated by Felipe Solis, exh. cat. (New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 2004), 76, no. 7,
    .

Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

animal art, sculptures

Technical metadata and APIs

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