Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Maize Cob Effigy
Not on view
Archaeologists recovered this carved and polished jadeite maize cob from the murky waters of the site of Arroyo Pesquero in 2012. The site has been known since 1969, when a massive offering was discovered at the confluence of streams that brings fresh water into the mostly brackish Pesquero River. Perhaps a ritual implement or costume element, the cob reveals the refined skill of a master lapidary artist, for jade is a highly difficult mineral to work, especially using tools made of stone, obsidian (a volcanic glass), or reed, as was typical in Mesoamerica.
Los arqueólogos recuperaron este elote de jade tallado y pulido de las aguas turbulentas del sitio de Arroyo Pesquero en 2012. Se conoce la existencia de este sitio desde 1969, cuando fue descubierta una impresionante ofrenda en la confluencia de arroyos que traen agua fresca al rio Pesquero, de aguas mayoritariamente salobres. Este elote era quizás un implemento ritual o un elemento de vestuario. Además, revela la habilidad refinada del artista lapidario, ya que el jade es un material sumamente difícil de trabajar, especialmente si se utilizan herramientas de piedra, obsidiana (un vidrio volcánico) o cañas, como era típico en Mesoamérica.
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