Location

not on view

Description

The Gulf Coast of Mexico was an important center of ceramic sculpture production for more than 2,000 years. Nearly life-size hollow effigies, produced after about AD 600, are among the most spectacular works from this region. Although the faces were sometimes made with molds, this example appears to be hand-modeled. The mythical serpent helmet indicates that the figure may be a ritual performer.

Provenance

?-1958

(Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1958, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)

1958-1990

James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1990

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Citations

Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 253 www.jstor.org

Exhibition history

Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 4 - November 29, 1992. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art. 79 (September, 1992.) cat. no. 74, p. 271, repr. fig. 74, p. 253.

The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Head with Animal Helmet

Mexico, Gulf Coast, San Andrés Tuxtla(?), 7th-11th Century

Location

Description