Advanced Search 
Fish effigy pectoral bead
Olmec
Middle Formative period
900–550 B.C.
Object Place: Mexico
Medium/Technique
Jadeite: traces of red pigment
Dimensions
12.06 x 7.62 x 2.54 cm (4 3/4 x 3 x 1 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1978.487
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Beads
This unusual pendant was owned by twentieth-century Mexican artist and scholar Miguel Covarrubias, one of the first to recognize the great antiquity of Olmec art.
DescriptionLarge tubular pectoral bead carved in the shape of a fish with wide-opened mouth and splayed tail. The assymetry of the tail suggests it was carved from a larger object of different form. This unusual pendant-bead was once owned by twentieth-century Mexican artist and scholar Miguel Covarrubias. He was among the first to recognize the great antiquity of Olmec art and to champion its aesthetic power.
ProvenanceSaid to have been excavated in Tobasco [see note 1]. Miguel Covarrubias (b. 1904 - d. 1957), Mexico City [see note 2]. 1973, Veracruzana, Inc., New York (stock no. V599); May 29, 1973, sold by Veracruzana to Landon T. Clay, Boston, 1978, gift of Landon T. Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 13, 1978)
NOTES:
[1] According to the bill of sale from Veracruzana. [2] According to notes in the MFA curatorial file.
NOTES:
[1] According to the bill of sale from Veracruzana. [2] According to notes in the MFA curatorial file.