Standing Figure (c. 900–400 BCE): Art, History and Details

Standing Figure (c. 900–400 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The Olmec were Mesoamerica's greatest lapidaries; their work in jade and serpentine was prized by both contemporary and later Mesoamerican cultures. Human beings were jaguar traits (such as the downturned mouth and paw-like hands of this figurine) are common in Olmec art. Such creatures were probably believed to possess supernatural powers.

Object facts

• Title: Standing Figure
• Date: c. 900–400 BCE
• Culture: Mesoamerica, Mexico, Olmec
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: serpentine
• Dimensions: Overall: 10.6 x 4.5 x 2.5 cm (4 3/16 x 1 3/4 x 1 in.)
• Collection: AA - Mesoamerica
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1990.219

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener

Further reading listed by the museum

• Von Winning, Hasso, and Alfred Stendahl. Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico and Central America: Text and Notes by Hasso Von Winning. Selection of Plates by Alfred Stendahl. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1968.
• Young-Sãnchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75.

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.