Art of the Ancient Americas
The Princeton University Art Museum hosts one of the country’s most significant collections of art of the ancient Americas. The collection encompasses an array of objects created over a span of approximately 4,000 years, with particular strengths in work from urban civilizations in Mesoamerica and the Andes. The core of this collection was formed in the 1960s by its inaugural curator Gillett G. Griffin (1967–2005), who sought out elegant Olmec ceramics and jades as well as Maya figurines in the earliest days of US collectors acquiring such material. His enthusiasm for small-scale objects has been a source of inspiration for several generations of Princeton alumni and friends, many of whom have given significant gifts and generously supported new acquisitions.
Consisting primarily of portable works in ceramic, stone, gold, and other precious materials, the collection provides valuable insights into a range of artistic and cultural practices. Olmec objects in ceramic, jade, and serpentine are particularly numerous, as are later ceramic polychrome vessels and figurines from the Maya region, including the chocolate-drinking cup known as the Princeton Vase and exceptional representations of the Maya ballgame. Andean holdings feature technically sophisticated ceramics produced by Mochica artists of the north coast of Peru, as well as Chimú, Chancay, and Inca textiles—including a substantial fragment of the so-called Chimú Prisoner Textile. The collection also features significant examples of ancient American writing and recording systems, such as hieroglyphic writing and a knotted Inka khipu. In its geographical, chronological, and technical breadth, the collection provides an exceptional opportunity for expanding paths of inquiry and the interpretation of the arts of the ancient Americas.
Native North American art is curated within both the American and the ancient American curatorial areas. Photographs of potentially culturally sensitive belongings have been withheld from the online collections catalogue. The records for funerary objects are not available online. For questions concerning Native North American belongings at Princeton University or the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGRPA), or for information about scheduling an in-person or virtual visit, please contact MaryKate Cleary, curator of provenance at marykate.cleary@princeton.edu.
