Property from an American Private Collection
Olmec Greenstone Figure of a Supernatural, Middle Preclassic, circa 900 - 300 BC
Lot Closed
December 4, 05:04 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from an American Private Collection
Olmec Greenstone Figure of a Supernatural
Middle Preclassic, circa 900 - 300 BC
Length: 5 1/4 in (13.5 cm)
Robert and Marianne Huber, Dixon, Illinois
Peter G. Wray, Scottsdale (inv. no. 611-W), acquired from the above on July 15, 1980
Richard Manoogian, Grosse Pointe
Sotheby's, New York, May 14, 1991, lot 121, consigned by the above
The Merrin Gallery, New York, acquired at the above auction
American Private Collection, New York, acquired from the above in 1991
Peter G. Wray, Scottsdale (inv. no. 611-W), acquired from the above on July 15, 1980
Richard Manoogian, Grosse Pointe
Sotheby's, New York, May 14, 1991, lot 121, consigned by the above
The Merrin Gallery, New York, acquired at the above auction
American Private Collection, New York, acquired from the above in 1991
The Art Museum, Princeton University, The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, December 16, 1995 - February 25, 1996; additional venue: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 14 - June 9, 1996
Michael D. Coe, ed., The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, Princeton, 1996, p. 212, cat. no. 106
This slender and fluidly carved amulet is a subtle yet powerful depiction of one of the primary deities of Olmec mythology, the Olmec Dragon. One of the most potent of the composite deities in the Olmec pantheon, the supernatural dragon combines attributes of creatures from the land, sea, and sky, combining caiman, jaguar and eagle. The dominance and agility of these creatures within their natural domains are key elements to the potency and agency of the deity. The Olmec Dragon is intimately connected to agricultural fertility and life-giving water.
The primary image of this amulet is of the low slithering or floating crocodile, with a large, undulating, ribbon-like snout, as if rearing into action, terminating in a flat snout of tightly curled nostrils. An incised pupil lies within the recessed eye, hooded by the characteristic back-swept flame-brows; fangs descend from the line of the lower jaw. The forelegs are carved in low relief and tightly bent with incised markings suggestive of the hand- paw-wing motif curving onto the lower body; the rear legs are incised and a row of chevrons along the spine represent the scutes of the saurian.
The Olmec Dragon is represented in various mediums including greenstone, Preclassic ceramics and larger basalt stone monuments, attesting to the importance of this iconic hybrid as a power symbol within Olmec ideology.
For the important Tlapacoya ceramic vessel of this deity, see Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz de la Fuente, eds., Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico, Washington, D.C., 1996, p. 193, cat. no. 29. For a basalt carving of the head of the dragon, see Peter David Joralemon, "The Olmec Dragon: A study in Pre-Columbian Iconography" in H. B. Nicholson, ed., Origins of Religious Art and Iconography in Preclassic Mesoamerica, Los Angeles, 1976, p. 38, fig. 7r.
For two important greenstone dragon figures, see the jade figure from the Guennol Collection, and the figure in the collection of The Art Museum, Princeton University; in Michael D. Coe, ed., The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, Princeton, 1996, p. 208, cat. no. 99, and p. 208, fig. 1.
The primary image of this amulet is of the low slithering or floating crocodile, with a large, undulating, ribbon-like snout, as if rearing into action, terminating in a flat snout of tightly curled nostrils. An incised pupil lies within the recessed eye, hooded by the characteristic back-swept flame-brows; fangs descend from the line of the lower jaw. The forelegs are carved in low relief and tightly bent with incised markings suggestive of the hand- paw-wing motif curving onto the lower body; the rear legs are incised and a row of chevrons along the spine represent the scutes of the saurian.
The Olmec Dragon is represented in various mediums including greenstone, Preclassic ceramics and larger basalt stone monuments, attesting to the importance of this iconic hybrid as a power symbol within Olmec ideology.
For the important Tlapacoya ceramic vessel of this deity, see Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz de la Fuente, eds., Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico, Washington, D.C., 1996, p. 193, cat. no. 29. For a basalt carving of the head of the dragon, see Peter David Joralemon, "The Olmec Dragon: A study in Pre-Columbian Iconography" in H. B. Nicholson, ed., Origins of Religious Art and Iconography in Preclassic Mesoamerica, Los Angeles, 1976, p. 38, fig. 7r.
For two important greenstone dragon figures, see the jade figure from the Guennol Collection, and the figure in the collection of The Art Museum, Princeton University; in Michael D. Coe, ed., The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, Princeton, 1996, p. 208, cat. no. 99, and p. 208, fig. 1.