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Contents of Case 28: 24 objects

Special Exhibition:

Ancient Treasures of the Americas

For thousands of years, the indigenous peoples of North, Central, and South America have employed numerous materials, forms, techniques, and styles to create works of great beauty and innovation. The thirteen works shown here, dating from 800 B.C. to A.D. 850, represent some of the most exquisite and rare objects in the Arts of the Americas collection.

The Olmec of the Gulf Coast of Mexico (1200–300 B.C.), for example, produced magnificent carvings in jadeite, serpentine, and other minerals—such as the figurines, ornaments, and spoon on display—as offerings to be placed in elite burials or in dedicatory caches celebrating the construction of religious and civic monuments. The Woodland peoples of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys in the United States (A.D. 1–900) sculpted beautifully detailed stone effigy pipes of animals that were probably used during ceremonies. The Maya of Mexico and Central America (250 B.C.–A.D. 900) carved jade and shell to make delicate ornaments and picture plaques that were worn and used by elite members of society; and finally, the Chavin culture of the northern highlands of Peru (900–200 B.C.) created finely incised conch-shell trumpets, which were most likely used during rituals, as depicted on architectural friezes and monumental sculpture.

Notable objects in this case include the Olmec Standing Figure Holding a Baby, remarkable for its delicacy and highly polished surface. The figure has the typical Olmec face with drooping lips, flattened head, drilled ear lobes, and unclothed body. Its sensitively modeled face is serene compared to the animated, snarling expression of the “baby,” which has been interpreted as a supernatural being because it wears a headband decorated with two nodules that is a common attribute of the Olmec infant-jaguar deity. The carving may portray an elite figure holding an ancestral or deity image or the Olmec practice of child sacrifice. The Allison-Copena Panther Effigy Pipe is remarkable for its realism; it is carved on all sides including the bottom pads of the feet. The Maya mosaic head pendant is outstanding in the skillful way the artist arranged tesserae, or small pieces, of jadeite, Spondylus (an orange-colored spiny oyster) shell, mother of pearl, and obsidian to fashion a dramatic face that belies the pendant’s small size. The elaborately incised Chavin Strombus-Shell Trumpet with its self-referential depiction of a human figure blowing a conch shell, has drill holes so it could be suspended on a cord, perhaps from the neck of a priest. In the incised design, a cascade of serpents emanate from the trumpet, possibly alluding to the sacred nature of the sounds produced.

Visible Storage: Case 28, Shelf A (Special Exhibition)
	37.390	Colima Dog Figure 200 B.C.E.-300 C.E. View object details...
	38.45	Aztec Reclining Jaguar 1400-1521 View object details...
	40.15	Colima Figurine 300 BCE - 300 CE View object details...
	40.919	Jalisco Seated Figure of a Woman circa 100 C.E. View object details...
	47.186.1	Nayarit Figurine of a Man 100 B.C.E. - 200 C.E. View object details...
	47.186.2	Nayarit Figurine of a Woman 100 B.C.E. - 200 C.E. View object details...
Visible Storage: Case 28, Shelf B (Special Exhibition)
	48.22.21	Zapotec Funerary Urn 200-800 View object details...
	37.2771PA	Maya Head of Female Figurine 600-850 View object details...
	37.2777PA	Huastec Jar 1250-1520 View object details...
	37.2778PA	Maya Figurine View object details...
	37.2779PA	Huastec Effigy Jar 1250-1520 View object details...
	37.2781PA	Maya Jar View object details...
	37.2782PA	Maya Cylindrical Vessel 700-900 View object details...
	37.2783PA	Maya Hollow Figurine 500-850 View object details...
	37.2784PA	Maya Hollow Figurine 500-850 View object details...
	37.2785PA	Maya Rattle of a Man Wearing a Bird Mask 500-850 View object details...
	37.2786PA	Maya Cylindrical Hollow Figurine 500-850 View object details...
	37.2788PA	Maya Whistle in Form of Turtle 500-850 View object details...
	37.2789PA	Maya Figurine 500-850 View object details...
	37.2794PA	Maya Tripod Bowl 1000-1200 View object details...
	37.2809PA	Huastec Head of Figurine 1250-1520 View object details...
	37.2904PA	Maya Rattle of Priestess or Woman Impersonating a Deity 500-850 View object details...
Visible Storage: Case 28, Shelf C (Special Exhibition)
	37.2895PA	Huastec Relief Carving of a Human Face 900-1250 View object details...
	37.2896PA	Huastec Bowl ca. 1250-1520 View object details...