Pre-Columbian Art / Olmecoid / Olmecoid Terracotta Sculpture of a Seated Baby, 1150 BCE - 550 CE
Terracotta
height 35.6 cm
height 14 in
height 14 in
PF.3996
Further images
This is a particularly magnificent example of the Olmec Baby, a type that carries an uncertain supernatural connotation. The body is that of a plump, asexual child, a toddler not...
This is a particularly magnificent example of the Olmec Baby, a type that carries an uncertain supernatural connotation. The body is that of a plump, asexual child, a toddler not yet able to stand on its own. The face, however, wears the expression of a startled cat. These Were-Jaguars were an essential part of the Olmec religion, harking back to a mythological age when women mated with wild beasts. Perhaps this wary child, wise beyond his years, is here to remind us that there is a primitive streak in us all, that we are not that long out of the jungle.