Hunchback Seated on a Stool (c. 600–800): Art, History and Details

Hunchback Seated on a Stool (c. 600–800) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The meanings of hunchbacks is not well-studied in Panamanian art. But to the north, in Mexico and Guatemala, such physical anomalies marked individuals of great spiritual power. A few of this figure’s features suggest that hunchbacks held similar status in Panama: The figure sits upon a four-legged stool, a symbol of authority, and the mythic creatures painted on each side may connect the figure to the supernatural realm.

Object facts

• Title: Hunchback Seated on a Stool
• Date: c. 600–800
• Culture: Central Panama, Conte Style, c. 600-800
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: earthenware with colored slips
• Dimensions: Overall: 25 x 19 x 25.1 cm (9 13/16 x 7 1/2 x 9 7/8 in.)
• Collection: AA - Intermediate Region
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1998.115

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Acquires Major New Sculpture, Rare Chinese Prints, Contemporary Prints, Drawings & Photographs,” October 30, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.

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.