Stele
1 of 2
Object Label
This stele is topped with three kneeling human figures wearing jaguar masks with pronounced incisors, and the back is decorated with eighteen crouching jaguars carved in high relief. The exact function of such monumental stone slabs is unknown because so few have been found or excavated in the region. One example was discovered upright in a cemetery, suggesting that it was a grave marker for an important individual. In this case, the jaguar may have been the deceased’s totem animal or clan symbol.
Caption
Central Caribbean. Stele, 700–1000. Volcanic stone, 78 9/16 x 23 1/4 x 11 in. (199.5 x 59 x 27.9 cm) . Brooklyn Museum, Alfred W. Jenkins Fund, 34.5098. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.5098_front_PS4.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Stele
Date
700–1000
Geography
Place found: Las Mercedes, Costa Rica
Medium
Volcanic stone
Classification
Dimensions
78 9/16 x 23 1/4 x 11 in. (199.5 x 59 x 27.9 cm)
Credit Line
Alfred W. Jenkins Fund
Accession Number
34.5098
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
How do the curators know that these are humans in masks and not animals?
Visually it is possible to infer that these are masked human figures, because of their body. You can see that the upright position of the figures suggest that these are humans in disguise. If you look closely, you can see human ears beneath the masks, and on the back of the sculpture you can see that the figures have human feet and backsides. The back of the slab is decorated with eighteen crouching jaguars. The jaguar may have been a totem animal or clan symbol of the deceased. You can compare the rendering of the jaguar bodies to those of the human figures in masks.
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