OLMEC JADE PENDANT
OLMEC JADE PENDANT

MIDDLE PRECLASSIC, CA. 900 - 600 B.C.

Details
OLMEC JADE PENDANT
MIDDLE PRECLASSIC, CA. 900 - 600 B.C.
in the form of a standing hunchback with arms clasped to the chest, wearing an incised loincloth; in translucent green stone with remains of red pigment.
Height 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.)
Provenance
In a European collection since 1980
Further details
Cf. Olmec World, fig. 19. for the type

In Mesoamerican mythology hunchbacks were considered to be imbued with supernatural powers. Even the Maya and Aztecs rulers kept hunchbacks in their courts to serve as 'go-betweens' to the otherworld.

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