Standing Male Figure

Artist: Unknown

900–400 B.C.

Art of the Ancient Americas

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

Despite its small size, this standing male figurine carved of jadeite embodies many of the qualities of Olmec monumental art, in which hard stone is made to appear soft and pliable. The figure, wearing a small loincloth, stands with his legs apart and slightly bent. His arms, hanging down by his sides, are also slightly bent, in contrast to his stiff, straight torso. There is strong emphasis on the large head, flat and oval in shape with a curving bulge rising from the top. The face is carved in typically Olmec masklike style, with the characteristic downturned mouth, broad nose, and almond-shaped eyes. The facial features would have been accentuated with red pigment, which survives in small quantity on the figure.

Medium

Jadeite with pigment

Dimensions

3 1/2 × 1 7/16 × 9/16 in. (8.9 × 3.6 × 1.5 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Thomas T. Solley, B.A. 1950

Accession Number

2002.15.4

Geography

Guatemala

Culture

Mexico or Guatemala, Olmec

Period

Middle Formative 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
Purportedly excavated at La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico [see note 1]. William Spratling (1900–1967), Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico; sold to André Emmerich (1924–2007), New York (Inv. OM-22), November 1959 [see note 2]; sold to Thomas T. Solley (1924–2006), Bloomington, Ind., February 27, 1964 [see also note 1]; given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2002.

Note 1: According to invoice and photo-archive of the André Emmerich Gallery, the object was excavated at La Venta, Tabasco, an archaeological site in Mexico (Sale Invoice, André Emmerich Gallery, to Thomas T. Solley, February 27, 1964, and Photo-Record, André Emmerich Gallery Records and André Emmerich Papers, circa 1929-2009, Archives of American Art, Washington, DC, copies in curatorial file)

Note 2: André Emmerich inventory card (OM-22), Sotheby’s, New York, copy in curatorial file for OM-22.

Bibliography
  • Mary E. Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica: From Olmec to Aztec, 5th edition (London: Thames and Hudson, 2012), 43, fig. 32
  • Mary E. Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica: From Olmec to Aztec, 5th ed. (London: Thames and Hudson, 2012), 41–3, fig. 32
  • Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2007), 192, 193 (detail), 384, pl. 177, ill.
  • "Acquisitions 2002," in "The Original Work of Art: What It Has to Teach," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2003), 131, ill.
  • Megan O'Neil, "Bone into Body, Manatee into Man," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2002), 95, fig. 4
  • Michael D. Coe, The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, exh. cat. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University, 1995), figs. 1, 16, 19, 22 all similar
  • Mary E. Miller, "Precolumbian Art of Mexico and Central America at the Yale University Art Gallery," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1995–96), 21, fig. 3
  • Peter David Joralemon, A Study of Olmec Iconography (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1971)
  • André Emmerich, Art Before Columbus: The Art of Ancient Mexico, from the Archaic Villages of the Second Millennium B.C. to the Splendor of the Aztecs (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963)
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

View IIIF manifest

The International Image Interoperability Framework, or IIIF, is an open standard for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. Visit iiif.io to learn more

Linked Art

API response for this object

Linked Art is a Community working together to create a shared Model based on Linked Open Data to describe Art.