Seated Figure

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Culture Olmec

Title Seated Figure

Date 1200–900 BCE

Medium Clay and cinnabar

Dimensions Object: 4 7/8 × 4 3/8 × 3 1/2 in. (12.4 × 11.1 × 8.9 cm)
Overall: 4 7/8 × 4 3/8 × 3 1/2 in. (12.4 × 11.1 × 8.9 cm)

Credit Line Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2001.2

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About this Work

This figure is one of a group of small and large clay figures with Olmec features (such as the downturned mouth) that were said to have been found in graves in Las Bocas, a central Mexican site far from the Olmec homeland on the Gulf coast. Seated obese figures such as this one may be an early depiction of a deity later known as the Fat God, or they may represent overfed rulers or priests, obese eunuchs, or persons with genetic or endocrine abnormalities.

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Seated Figure | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2001.2