1968.16.FA Hummingbird pendant (Olmec, Guerrero, Mexico)

The carved stone images Olmec kings wore on their foreheads and chests projected supernatural power. This pendant carved in the shape of a hummingbird would have originally been suspended from a necklace by the two smaller drilled holes at the neck of the figure. Objects such as these often accompanied the king on his journey through death to the otherworld. 

Carol Robbins, Label text [1968.20], A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Olmec: AAT: 300017051

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Guerrero (state): TGN: 7005585

jadeite (mineral): AAT: 300011121

carving: AAT: 300053149

polishing (finishing): AAT: 300053867

drillwork (sculpture technique): AAT: 300186211

Middle Preclassic Period (Formative): AAT: 300016973

Preclassic (Archaic / Formative / Mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016967

Formative Period (Preclassic): AAT: 300016973

worn costume accessories: AAT: 300209274

jewelry: AAT: 300209286

pendants (jewelry): AAT: 300046002

animals: DMA

birds (animals): AAT: 300266506

birds (motifs): AAT: 300375751

humingbird (Trochilidae family): AAT: 300256337

green (color): AAT: 300128438

shiny: AAT: 300065244

From 1968: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of the Wendover Foundation, purchased from Teochita, Inc., New York (Frances Pratt, dealer) [1], [2], [3]

[1] The main source for this provenance is invoice from Teochita, Inc., New York (dated December 1, 1967, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The Dallas Art Association is the predecessor to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name was abandoned in 1970. Works from this collection were transferred to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

[3] The Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit corporation created as a title-holding entity to serve the people of Dallas but to operate independently of the City. The Dallas Museum of Art (at its own cost) is responsible for the care, storage, insurance, conservation and maintenance of the collection, and agrees to maintain the highest museum standards in the management and handling of the Foundation’s collection. The title to all works of art purchased or otherwise acquired by the Foundation for the Arts is retained by the Foundation.

Apply to objects where number equals 1968.16.FA