On view
Architectural model,
500 BCE–800 CE
The rugged terrain, relatively limited infrastructure, and general inhospitality to archaeological research of the region encompassed by the present-day Mexican state of Guerrero have left the state’s various ancient cultures less studied than those from other parts of Mesoamerica. At the same time, the region, particularly the towns of Iguala and Taxco, has long been an abundant font of ancient art that moved into both the Mexican and international markets.
Gillett Griffin (1928–2016), the Museum’s first curator of the art of the ancient Americas, regularly visited Guerrero and explored many of its ancient sites. Griffin acquired artifacts for his own and the Museum’s collections from Mexican dealers, American expatriate collectors, and Indigenous residents, among others. The Museum continues to research the collecting histories of these objects, examining the ethical implications of when and how objects were transferred from their sites of origin and asking critical questions about our continued stewardship.
Information
500 BCE–800 CE
North America, Mexico, Guerrero, Upper Balsas region
Likely between 1960 and 1973, sold by Judith Small Galleries, Inc., New York, to John B. Elliott (1928-1997), Class of 1951, Princeton, NJ [1]; 1998, bequest of John B. Elliott to the Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] According to correspondence with Peter David Joralemon, Judy Nash sold this piece to John B. Elliott “sometime after opening her New York gallery in 1960 and before leaving for London in 1973,” though more likely earlier in this timeframe. See curatorial files.
- Carlo T. E. Gay, "Mezcala architecture in miniature", Mémoires de la Classe des beaux-arts: Collection in-8o 15 (n.s. 2), no. 3 (1987): p. 232., cat no. 55, pp. 15–16 (illus.)
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"The checklist of the John B. Elliott Bequest," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 61 (2002): p. 49-99.
, p. 84 - Gillett G. Griffin and Matthew Robb, "Pre-Columbian Art: A Selection from The John B. Elliott Collection," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 61 (2002): 26–35., pp. 32–33, cat. no. 5 (illus.)
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Joanne Pillsbury, Patricia Joan Sarro, James A. Doyle, and Juliet B. Wiersema, Design for Eternity: Architectural Models from the Ancient Americas (New York; New Haven: Metropolitan Museum of Art, distributed by Yale University Press, 2015).
, fig. 53
