Celt Pendant

This jade pectoral expresses the close relationship between greenstone celts and maize in Olmec thought. The object is clearly celtiform, with a slightly narrowing poll and a sharpened bit edge at the opposite end. Nonetheless, because the object is strongly tabular, it is unlikely it ever served as a true axe-head. Two biconically drilled holes pierce the squared edge on one side of the piece, allowing the object to be worn horizontally as a pectoral; the motif boldly incised on one side is on the long vertical axis, so would appear on its side when the object was worn as a pendant. Rather than being lightly scratched on the surface, the decoration seems to have been cut with a back and forth sawlike motion. Areas of overcutting are readily visible in the lower U-shaped form of the motif. Similar incision is evident on the reverse side, although there the carving seems to have been aborted. Two other cut marks can be seen on the reverse side, on the lower edge opposite the two drilled holes. It is probable that these two cut marks, near the poll and bit ends, are remnants of the preliminary blocking and cutting of the celt pendant.

The diopside jadeite of this celt pendant is similar to another Dumbarton Oaks piece acquired from Joseph Brummer, the large standing jadeite statuette of PC.B.014. Both are composed of relatively dark green stone with areas of less consolidated coarse crystals. The back and sides of the pendant retain some red calcite staining, with minute amounts also present in the cut front surface.The chemical identification of the calcite was performed by Paul Jett. Michael D. Coe (1962b) was the first to note that the surface design contains a prominent maize sign. According to Coe, the trefoil element near the bit end represents a maize ear partly projecting out of an enclosing husk. Peter David Joralemon (1971:fig. 173), Virginia M. Fields (1991:168), Tomás Pérez Suárez (1997), and I (Taube 1996, 2000a; see also Taube and Saturno 2008) concur with this assessment. According to Fields, this trefoil motif is ancestral to the foliated jester god jewel worn by Maya kings. Joralemon identifies the circular element below the trefoil motif as a “seed-corn” dot, and notes other Olmec examples of maize ears above similar seed dots (Joralemon 1971:figs. 170–172, 174).

The lowest of the three elements composing the incised celt motif is a U-shaped device in a rectangular cartouche. Although it often occurs in Protoclassic Maya art, the meaning of this simple U-sign is poorly understood (see Parsons 1986:figs. 75, 143, 167, 169, 173, 175).

The U-shaped rectangle and the central seed element compose a form resembling a ball placed atop a column. A similar rod and ball can be found on the headdress worn by the female figure on La Venta Stela 3 (Figures 18.4c and 24.1a). The beaded elements flanking this central column closely resemble maize grain, and it is quite possible that the device represents an erect ear of corn. Although of simpler form, a similar element occurs in identical position above the central figure of the Shook Panel, an entity identified as the Olmec maize god in the role of an acrobat (Figure 24.1b) (Taube 1996). Kaminaljuyu Stela 20 portrays a Protoclassic Maya version of the rod-and-ball motif sprouting as growth out of a foliated jester god browpiece (Figure 24.1c). A Classic personified form of Glyph J—the Zapotec maize sign—holds a pair of probable maize ears with the same rod-and-ball motif (Figure 24.1d).

An Exhibition of Pre-Columbian Art, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, January–March 1940

Ancient American Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California, April–June 1942, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California, July–August 1942, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon, September–October 1942

Indigenous Art of the Americas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1947–1949 and 1952–1962

Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, October 2010–January 2011, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California, February–May 2011