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Seated Figure

c. 900–300 BCE
albitite
Overall: 11 x 6.2 x 3.9 cm (4 5/16 x 2 7/16 x 1 9/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1941.390
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
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Description

Like their contemporaries, the Olmec made figurines but of greenstone rather than clay. This one, whose identity and use are mysterious, holds objects that may address nature's fertility: on the right, perhaps a cut conch shell that refers to water, and on the left, what may be a plant or a bundle of green feathers that symbolizes new vegetation.
Seated Figure

Seated Figure

c. 900–300 BCE

Mesoamerica, Mexico, Olmec

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