Architectural Sculpture Fragment (c. 700–1000): Art, History and Details

Architectural Sculpture Fragment (c. 700–1000) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This architectural sculpture fragment probably once formed part of a tomb façade; technically similar sculptures have been found at the Zapotec site Lambityeco. Ancestral tombs were usually located beneath the courtyard of the family home and were often reused for successive generations. This image of a man wearing a feline mask over the lower face may portray a lineage founder.

Object facts

• Title: Architectural Sculpture Fragment
• Date: c. 700–1000
• Culture: Mexico, Oaxaca, Zapotec
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: unfired clay, covered with painted stucco
• Dimensions: Overall: 22.8 x 12.5 x 13 cm (9 x 4 15/16 x 5 1/8 in.)
• Collection: AA - Mesoamerica
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1996.401

Collection credit

Gift of Brian and Florence Mahony

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.