FILTER RESULTS
Grasshopper/Jaguar God Pectoral
300-600 CEPrecolumbian
2 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. (5.4 x 11.4 cm)
Unknown, Maya
Mexican or Guatemalan
Object Type:
Stonework
Medium and Support:
Green stone
Credit Line:
R. T. Miller Fund
Accession Number:
1946.13
Location: Currently on view
A pectoral is worn on an individual’s chest. The creature that adorns this pectoral has been identified as a grasshopper, a man, a jaguar god, or perhaps a combination of all three. Composite images that defy modern understanding are quite common in Ancient American art as embodiments of change or transformation. Rather than representing an actual animal, the composite creature was a representation or symbol of the wearer, or the characteristics the wearer wanted to possess.
It is unclear exactly what the wearer of this pectoral intended, but the characteristics of both animals hold potential for great power. Swarming grasshoppers (locusts) are incredibly destructive. To this day, they arrive on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico every four years and devour all the crops in the area. Jaguars are night hunters comfortable on land, in trees and in the water. Powerful shamans and kings throughout Mesoamerica chose the jaguar as their alter ego because of their size, strength and versatility.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
It is unclear exactly what the wearer of this pectoral intended, but the characteristics of both animals hold potential for great power. Swarming grasshoppers (locusts) are incredibly destructive. To this day, they arrive on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico every four years and devour all the crops in the area. Jaguars are night hunters comfortable on land, in trees and in the water. Powerful shamans and kings throughout Mesoamerica chose the jaguar as their alter ego because of their size, strength and versatility.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
Provenance
Nierendorf Galleries, New York; purchased from them by the Gallery in 1946
Keywords
Click a term to view the records with the same keyword
Additional Images
Click an image to view a larger version
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Rochester Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester Handbook. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1961.
- Article Scope: Mention. Elizabeth Brayer. Magnum Opus: The Story of the Memorial Art Gallery, 1913-1988. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1988.
Portfolio List
Click a portfolio name to view all the objects in that portfolio
This object is a member of the following portfolios: