Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Olmec Statue Made of Hematite (an Iron Ore)

 

 

60. Seated Dwarf with Arms Extended

 

Middle Formative Period

Hematite

11.5 x 8 (4 ½ x 3 )

 

Unknown

 

Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT. The Henry D. Miller Fund

 

Hematite is an iron-ore mineral that can be polished into a mirror shine. Olmec lapidaries used it and other iron ores to make concave mirrors and manufacture inlays for shell ornaments. This is the only sculpture yet discovered that is carved from this exotic material. Illustrated in Pal Kelemen’s pioneering study of Pre-Columbian art (1943), this statue depicts a seated human figure, probably a dwarf, with massive head and powerful squat body. The squarish head has soft, fleshy features. The elongated eyes are deeply carved, the wise nose has a flat tip with drilled nostrils, and the triangular mouth has a flared upper lip and downturned corners. Rectangular earflanges with incised channels and drilled lobes jut from the sides of the head. By joining the enormous head directly to the broad, thick torso, the sculpture’s stoutness is emphasized. The short stocky arms are outstretched and the powerful legs are spread apart and held close to the body. Hands and feet are rendered in simple rounded forms with incised lines indicating the fingers and toes. Although the statue’s sex is not marked, it clearly has the stocky bulkiness of a male.

 

The hematite sculpture’s proportions and posture resemble those of the finely carved jade swarf excavated in the Cerro de las Mesas cache (cat. 61). Although the iron-ore piece is considerably more massive than the jade, both carvings probably represent the same Olmec being. It is likely that these figures portray the same stout dwarfs depicted on Potrero Nuevo Monument 2 (cat. 3). The paired atlanteans are earth-bearers who support the middle plane of the cosmos. They have the same oversized heads, stocky bodies, and powerful legs shown on the two smaller stone statues. (Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz da la Fuente, Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico [Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art], 222-23)

 







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