id:			136813
accession number:	1961.31
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.31
updated:		2023-01-11 01:02:15.833000

Head Fragment, c. 900–300 BC. Mexico, Olmec, 1200-300 BC. Jadeite; overall: 7.4 x 6.2 x 5 cm (2 15/16 x 2 7/16 x 1 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1961.31

title:				Head Fragment
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 900–300 BC
creation date earliest:		-900
creation date latest:		-300
current location:		233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
creditline:			Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Mexico, Olmec, 1200-300 BC
technique:	jadeite
department:	Art of the Americas
collection:	AA - Mesoamerica
type:		Jade
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 7.4 x 6.2 x 5 cm (2 15/16 x 2 7/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Year in Review (1961)
	opening date:   1961-11-01T04:00:00
	<i>Year in Review (1961)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).

	title:		Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum
	opening date:   1991-06-07T04:00:00
	<i>Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

	title:		The Art of the Olmec Civilization
	opening date:   1996-06-30T04:00:00
	<i>The Art of the Olmec Civilization</i>. National Gallery of Art (organizer) (June 30-October 20, 1996).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>Pre-Columbian Art: The Native Art of America Before the Conquest</em>, The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL (January 10 - February 1,1953).

* <em>Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico</em>, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (September 26, 2010- January 9, 2011); The Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 19- May 30, 2011).

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PROVENANCE

	(John Wise, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?-1961
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1961-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
In ancient Mesoamerica, jade was more valuable than gold.

digital description:


wall description:
This sensual head fragment may come from a seated or standing figure like those shown nearby, though much larger. The carving is exceptionally fine, from the slight under-eye puffiness to the delineation of the fleshy lips and the teeth. The profile face of supernatural being is incised just in front of each ear, perhaps indicating that the subject had special power.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Society of the Four Arts (Palm Beach, Fla.), and Gordon F. Ekholm. Pre-Columbian Art, the Native Art of America Before the Conquest: Jan. 10-Feb. 1, 1953. Palm Beach: Society of the Four Arts, 1952.
	page number: 	Cat. No. 9
	url:		

	Hawley, Henry H. "An Olmec Jade Head." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 48, no. 8 (1961).
	page number: 	pp. 212-215
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25142469

	Lee, Sherman E. "Year in Review 1961." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 48, no. 9 (1961).
	page number: 	p. 238, no. 16
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25142473

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 290
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n314

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 290
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n314

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 393
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n413

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 6
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991/page/n21

	Benson, Elizabeth P., Beatriz de la Fuente, and Marcia Castro-Leal Espino. <em>Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico</em>. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1996.
	page number: 	p. 221, Cat. No. 59
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.31/1961.31_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.31/1961.31_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.31/1961.31_full.tif