The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 10, 2022

Hunchback Seated on a Stool

c. 600-800

Central Panama, Conte Style, c. 600-800

Earthenware with colored slips

Overall: 25 x 19 x 25.1 cm (9 13/16 x 7 1/2 x 9 7/8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1998.115

Location

233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Description

The meanings of hunchbacks is not well-studied in Panamanian art. But to the north, in Mexico and Guatemala, such physical anomalies marked individuals of great spiritual power. A few of this figure’s features suggest that hunchbacks held similar status in Panama: The figure sits upon a four-legged stool, a symbol of authority, and the mythic creatures painted on each side may connect the figure to the supernatural realm.

Citations
Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Acquires Major New Sculpture, Rare Chinese Prints, Contemporary Prints, Drawings & Photographs,” October 30, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 54, no. 14
Exhibition history

Cleveland, OH: MOCA; June 9- August 20, 2006. "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art." cat. no. 14, p. 116, color repr. p. 54.

The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.115