The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth has announced the acquisition of a renowned jade sculpture from the ancient Mesoamerican Olmec civilization.
“Standing Figure Holding a Were-Jaguar Baby,” Olmec culture, Mexico, Middle Preclassic period, c. 900–300 B.C., jade. Kimbell Art Museum. Photo by Justin Kerr. Justin Kerr Maya archive, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C.
Dated between 900 and 300 B.C., Standing Figure Holding a Were-Jaguar Baby has been of scholarly interest since the mid-20th century. The 8.5-inch carved sculpture was first documented in 1829 as being in the possession of a priest, Manuel de Posada y Garduño (who later served as the Archbishop of Mexico from 1839 to 1846). Then the work was acquired by Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat, the 4th Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat, and moved to Paris, France, around the 1860s. The work remained in the Chasseloup-Laubat family until 1947, when it was acquired by Alastair B. Martin of New York City, founder of the Guennol Collection. Mr. Martin placed the figure on long-term loan to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, where it was on view until 2014. More recently, the piece was on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
In a press release, Eric Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum, said “Thanks to the foresight and generosity of collector Alastair Martin, this astonishingly beautiful masterpiece of Olmec jade carving has been on display for the public for more than seventy-five years, studied by scholars and appreciated by general museum visitors. I am incredibly pleased to have the opportunity to continue that tradition. By acquiring one of the most important cultural touchstones of Olmec art for the Kimbell, we can assure that it will forever remain on view, available to all who want to appreciate its beauty and cultural significance.”
The small sculpture depicts an unclothed standing Olmec ruler holding an infant were-jaguar, a supernatural creature that is part human and part jaguar. According to the press release by the museum, there are 11 published Olmec sculptures similarly depicting an adult human holding an infant were-jaguar, but none among those surviving are identical. Standing Figure Holding a Were-Jaguar Baby is unique as it is the only one caved in jade (others are made of different stones) and one of three depicting a standing figure holding an infant across its chest.
Jennifer Casler Price, the Kimbell’s Senior Curator of Asian, African, and Ancient American Art, stated, “Few Olmec objects have the history, aesthetic quality, and iconographic significance of this superb jade figure. I am absolutely thrilled that we are able to add this incredibly eloquent sculpture to the ancient American collection.”
The piece was acquired in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the museum’s Renzo Piano Pavilion, where it is currently on view in the Kimbell’s Ancient American Collection. Learn more about the work via the Kimbell’s website.
