Images(7)

Female Figurine

Artist Unknown

Datecirca 300 BCE–200 CE

MediumCeramic

Dimensionsheight, width, and depth: 4 5/8 × 2 3/4 × 3 in. (11.7 × 7 × 7.6 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of the James G. Hanes Memorial Fund

Object numberG.73.8.39

On View

On view

Label TextGround stone tools, like metates and manos, are used for processing maize, cacao, and other grains. Mesoamericans discovered how to process the beans of the semisacred plant Theobroma cacao into drinking chocolate by grinding the seeds into a powder and mixing it with water and flavoring substances. The production of food was at the heart of economic power, so both this metate and the female figurine using a metate were markers of political status. Metates may have also served as symbolic thrones.

Ethnohistoric sources show that chocolate, which was later exported to Europe, made a significant impression on the first Spaniards in Mesoamerican land.
[Á. González, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2022]ProvenanceWilliam H. McGill, PhiladelphiaPublished References"Recent Acquisitions," (exhibition catalogue) North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 12, no. 3 (March 1974), cat. no. 204.
Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Recent Acquisitions," June 16-August 18, 1974, cat. no 204.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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