1973.30 Crouching male figure (Olmec, Mexico, Puebla)

This small, carved figurine depicts a crouching man. His genitals are exposed, and he has a pronounced beard, both of which are rare in Olmec art. The wrinkled-face, elderly man wears a fitted cap, and there are small holes on the earlobes, though further costume details are absent. The birthing pose is similar to that of bloodletting rituals in Classic Maya art, and there may be a similar association in this image. Alternatively, in Mesoamerican religion, ancestors are often merged into Mothers-Fathers or Fathers-Mothers. Among some native American peoples, men practice couvade: they share their wives' experience of childbirth. This Olmec sage is giving birth to the cosmos. The figure has two circles etched onto his buttocks, which, together with his genitals, form the Three-Stone-Place in the sky, a triangle of stars where First Father was reborn as Maize. Other circle-stars mark his arched spine, representing the Milky Way-World Tree rising northward out of the Three-Stone-Place as it does on August 13, creation eve. Therefore, this small crouching man embodies creation.

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Olmec: AAT: 300017051

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Puebla (state): TGN: 7005592

steatite: AAT: 300011665

soapstone (metamorphic rock): AAT: 300011665

stone: AAT: 300011176

carving: AAT: 300053149

polishing (finishing): AAT: 300053867

incising: AAT: 300053847

drillwork (sculpture technique): AAT: 300186211

Middle Preclassic Period (Formative): AAT: 300016973

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

Formative Period (Preclassic): AAT: 300016973

Maize God (Hun Hunahpu / First Father / Mesoamerican and Maya deity): DMA

sculpture: AAT: 300047090

green (color): AAT: 300128438

gray (color): AAT: 300130811

sitting (seated): AAT: 300263970

crouching (squatting): DMA

births (events): AAT: 300069672

couvade (ritual events / childbirth customs / sympathetic pregnancy): DMA

bloodletting (self-sacrifice / ritual): DMA

blood: AAT: 300011797

figures: AAT: 300189808

human figures: AAT: 300404114

male: AAT: 300189559

elderly: AAT: 300025913

nude: AAT: 300189568

beards: AAT: 300379263

ancestors: AAT: 300255718

cosmology (cosmological / disciplines): AAT: 300054294

cosmic diagram (cosmos / cosmic geography / cosmic landscape): DMA

creation (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300069002

stars (extraterrestrial bodies): AAT: 300387654

Milky Way (galaxies / extraterrestrial bodies): DMA

Three-Stone-Place (Mesoamerican mythical place of creation): DMA

tree of life (general motif / axis mundi /cosmic axis / world axis / world tree): AAT: 300312112

supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947

deities: AAT: 300343850

maize (zea mays species): AAT: 300375398

shiny: AAT: 300065244

n.d: Dr. and Sra. Josué Sáenz, Mexico, D.F. [1]

Until 1973: Edward H. Merrin Gallery, Inc. [2]

From 1973: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott and The Eugene McDermott Foundation and Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated [2], [3]

[1] The main source for this provenance is Object Worksheet (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated March 13, 1973, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

Apply to objects where number equals 1973.30