Cleveland Museum of Art
Celt with Deity
- Date
- 1000–300 BCE
- Medium
- stone
- Culture
- Mesoamerica, Mexico, Olmec
- Department
- Art of the Americas
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
This ceremonial object has the head of a deity and a body shaped like an axe blade (celt) used to clear land for agriculture. The flared mouth, toothless gums, and fangs are typical of Olmec supernatural beings. The meaning of the body's "four-dots-and-a-bar" motif is unclear, but it sometimes appears in depictions of plants. The deity, then, seems to be associated with fertility.
The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
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