gems, jade, pyroxene jade, fei cui, Guatemala, Mesoamerica, Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, archaeogemology, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Olmec, Mayan, Aztec, Mixtec, Toltec, Zapotec, sculpture

Ancient Middle America was, in the words of the late Miguel Covarrubias, “the intellectual and artistic focus of Indian civilization … the leading Indian cultural center of the hemisphere.” It was here that the major arts of architecture, mural painting and, especially, sculpture reached heights seldom equaled at any time or in any place. To give a broad picture, sculpture from the West Indies, Christopher Columbus’s first landfall, and from all of Central America as far south as Panama has been included in this exhibition, although, strictly speaking, the area of allied advanced Middle American cultures, referred to as Mesoamerica, is considered to extend only from central Mexico approximately to Nicaragua. Also, since even the smallest objects may display great virtuosity and have a monumental quality, gold and lapidary work, carving in wood, shell and bone, and ceramic figures have been included. Notwithstanding the unstinted generosity of our many lenders, the exhibition is not an encyclopedia of all Middle American sculpture. The finest pieces in some styles, such as the stone sculptures of the Olmecs from Tabasco and Veracruz and those of the Huastecs from Tamaulipas and northern Veracruz, have had to be omitted for reasons beyond our control. Special mention must be made, however, of the great treasures lent by European museums: none of these had made the westward crossing of the Atlantic before, and many of them were not recovered during archaeological explorations but were above ground, in use, and sent to Europe at or shortly after the time of the Spanish Conquest in the sixteenth century.