id:			155522
accession number:	1990.237
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1990.237
updated:		2023-03-14 12:01:42.313000

Head with Animal Helmet, c. 600–1000. Mexico, Gulf Coast, San Andrés Tuxtla(?), 7th-11th Century. Earthenware, pigment; overall: 39.1 x 23.4 x 16.5 cm (15 3/8 x 9 3/16 x 6 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.237

title:				Head with Animal Helmet
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 600–1000
creation date earliest:		600
creation date latest:		1000
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener
copyright:			

---

culture:	Mexico, Gulf Coast, San Andrés Tuxtla(?), 7th-11th Century
technique:	earthenware, pigment
department:	Art of the Americas
collection:	AA - Mesoamerica
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

---

CREATORS

---

measurements: Overall: 39.1 x 23.4 x 16.5 cm (15 3/8 x 9 3/16 x 6 1/2 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art
	opening date:   1992-02-04T05:00:00
	<i>The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 4 - November 29, 1992. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art. 79 (September, 1992.) cat. no. 74, p. 271, repr. fig. 74, p. 253.

---

PROVENANCE

	(Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1958, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)
	date: ?-1958
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1958-1990
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1990
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


---

fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
The Gulf Coast of Mexico was an important center of ceramic sculpture production for more than 2,000 years. Nearly life-size hollow effigies, produced after about AD 600, are among the most spectacular works from this region. Although the faces were sometimes made with molds, this example appears to be hand-modeled. The mythical serpent helmet indicates that the figure may be a ritual performer.
---

RELATED WORKS

---

CITATIONS

	Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75.
	page number: 	Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 253
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161367

---

IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.237/1990.237_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.237/1990.237_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.237/1990.237_full.tif