On view
Art of the Ancient Americas
Standing female figurine,
1400–1000 BCE
Olmec style
Early Formative Period
2016-11
Small figurines from central Mexico sometimes display distinctive Olmec traits such as thin eyes framed by puffy lids and thick, downturned mouths, revealing exceptional attention to the human form. Some figures are ungendered and shown in complex poses; often they have exaggerated features, such as the rotund torso of the seated figure displayed here. Other figurines have traits associated with men or women, such as the standing woman with breasts and broad hips. The meaning and function of this distinctive set of Olmec-influenced figurines remain a mystery, although they may, like the so-called Olmec babies, allude to ancestral souls.
Information
Title
Standing female figurine
Dates
1400–1000 BCE
Medium
Ceramic with white slip and traces of red paint
Dimensions
13.2 × 5 × 2 cm (5 3/16 × 1 15/16 × 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Peter Jay Sharp, Class of 1952, Fund and gift of Gillett G. Griffin
Object Number
2016-11
Place Made
North America, Mexico, Puebla, reportedly from above Las Bocas
Culture
Period
Materials
Techniques
Subject
August 30, 1967, George Pepper (1918-2016), Mexico City, Mexico, sold to Gillett G. Griffin (1928-2016); January 19, 2016, donative sale to Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] According to Gillett G. Griffin’s Notebook 1-1.
