The Bourne Identity: A Unique Middle Formative Jade Figure from Río Pesquero, Veracruz: Rubber Ball Game Player and/or Lapidary

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A jadeite figure in the John Bourne Collection of the Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, has previously been identified and displayed only as a representation of an Olmec ballplayer. However, an examination of its sculptural and iconographic details reveals that, rather than representing a ballplayer, this carving is actually a representation of a lapidary artisan holding and adorned with the tools and products of his trade. This unique object may represent one of the first self-portraits of an Olmec lapidary artisan. This paper will present a reinterpretation of this object with a discussion of what we know about its provenance and its possible context. The object’s new interpretation will draw upon information about Olmec lapidary artisans and Olmec ballplayers and will undertake to situate this object within a relevant comparative cultural context.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52994