Lot 236
Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Guerrero region, Olmec, ca. 900 to 600 BCE. A mesmerizing figure from the cradle of Mesoamerican civilization, this seated Olmec male is carved from pale green serpentine, its surface mellowed by age to a chalky white tone, with subtle traces of raised pyrite still embedded in the stone. The figure sits cross-legged, his limbs forming a closed and meditative coil, hands pressed across the lower abdomen in a gesture associated with shamanic transformation and celestial invocation. His expression is deeply introspective, eyes heavy-lidded beneath a sharply flattened brow, mouth downturned in an ambivalent pout. This solemn visage is characteristic of early Olmec sculptural vocabulary, where emotion and abstraction merge to evoke forces beyond the human realm. The unusual shape of the head and the crossed arms are both hallmarks of spiritual power in Olmec visual culture - icons of transformation, possibly rain petition or trance states, aligning the figure with the supernatural. Size: 1.4" L x 1.8" W x 3.3" H (3.6 cm x 4.6 cm x 8.4 cm); 3.9" H (9.9 cm) on included custom stand.
The placement of the hands across the belly may also echo the "crossed-bands" motif that signifies the sky in Olmec iconography, further suggesting that this figure is a conduit between earthly and celestial planes. Compact and powerful, his form hums with symbolic gravity - a self-contained sculpture of ceremonial resonance and spiritual weight.
Figures of this type are most commonly discovered in the mountainous Guerrero region, whose stone carving tradition is among the oldest and most distinctive in Mesoamerica. Though small in size, the presence of this seated shamanic figure is monumental - an artifact of ancient cosmology and early sculptural brilliance.
This piece was published in: Coe, Michael D., Princeton University Art Museum, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 1995. "The Olmec World : Ritual and Rulership." Princeton, N.J., New York: Art Museum, Princeton University in association with Harry N. Abrams ; Cloth ed. distributed in 1996 by Harry N. Abrams. Page 244 to 245. Number 143.
This piece was exhibited at the Princeton University Art Museum from December 16, 1995 to February 25, 1996 and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston from April 14, 1996 to June 9, 1996.
Provenance: private Lexington, Kentucky, USA collection, acquired February 27, 2023; ex-John Stokes Jr. collection, New York, New York, USA, acquired from Raul Kampfer, Kampfer Gallery, March 1970
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#195004
- Condition: Chipping to top of head with small loss. Some minor scratches and abrasions as shown, but, otherwise, excellent presentation with good remaining detail.
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