On view
Art of the Ancient Americas
Kneeling old woman,
1325–1521
Possibly Ñuù Savi
Late Postclassic Period
2007-131
Small-scale stone Mexica sculptures of women typically portray the figure as youthful and elaborately dressed in the costume of a particular deity. Most represent goddesses of maize (Chicomecoatl), water (Chalchiuhtlique), or, when the face is a skull, the Cihuateteo, goddesses associated with women who died in childbirth. This figure, whose wrinkly face and pendant breasts clearly convey her elderly status, is a rare subject. Subtle stylistic differences between this kneeling woman and contemporaneous Mexica sculptures led former Museum curator John M. D. Pohl to suspect that the figure may emulate a Mexica sculptural type, depicting a local goddess and adapted for a local audience, from the region that forms the border of the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Puebla.
Information
Title
Kneeling old woman
Dates
1325–1521
Medium
Volcanic stone
Dimensions
31.5 × 16 × 20.2 cm (12 3/8 × 6 5/16 × 7 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Gillett G. Griffin
Object Number
2007-131
Place Excavated
North America, Mexico, Oaxaca, Central Mexico, possibly Huahuapan region
Period
Type
Materials
Subject
Probably Raúl Kamffer (1929-1987), Mexico City [1]; by 1966, Gillett G. Griffin (1928-2016), Princeton, NJ [2]; 2007, gift of Gillett G. Griffin to the Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] According to undated invoice in curatorial file.
[2] This object was loaned to the museum in 1966 (L.1966.151).
- Harmer Johnson, ed. Guide to the Arts of the Americas (New York: Rizzoli, 1992), p. 55 (illus.)
- Felipe Solís, The Aztec Empire: Catalogue of the Exhibition (New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2004)., cat. no. 129 (illus.)
-
"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2007," in "More than one: photographs in sequence," special issue, Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 67 (2008): p. 96-119.
, p. 104
