{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[{"id":2035652,"period":"Middle Preclassic"}],"creditline":"Gift of Bernard Sperling","caption":"Olmec style, Middle Formative Period, 1000–400 BCE, Veracruz, Gulf Coast, Mexico, Mesoamerica, Celt. Jadeite; 21 × 11 × 6 cm. Gift of Bernard Sperling (y1972-2)","cultureterms":[{"id":2035751,"culture":"Olmec"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2055224,"term":"jades","aatid":300184767,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2048754,"term":"ceremonial objects","aatid":300234117,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2139834,"term":"celts","aatid":300251881,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2035652,"term":"Middle Preclassic","aatid":300016973,"termtype":"Period / Style"},{"id":2035751,"term":"Olmec","aatid":300017051,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2162892,"term":"jadéite","aatid":300011121,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: North America, Mexico, Veracruz, Gulf Coast, Reportedly from Arroyo Pesquero","code":"Place made","continent":"North America","subcontinent":"Mesoamerica","country":"Mexico","region":"Gulf Coast","state":"Veracruz","city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":"Reportedly from Arroyo Pesquero","locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/11120548/el-pesquero.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"21.00"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"11.00"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"6.00"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"1972-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[],"datecomputed":-700,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Ceremonial Objects","packages":[{"packageid":225488,"name":"Gallery_20(Pavilion5)-AAA"},{"packageid":211958,"name":"2022_FRS158_03_31"},{"packageid":210384,"name":"TDC-Final [4]"},{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":223469,"name":"2023_ART365/LAS370/ANT365_03_21"},{"packageid":208846,"name":"2022_ART267_02_02"},{"packageid":210235,"name":"2022_ART267_02_09"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2055224,"classification":"jades"},{"id":2139834,"classification":"celts"},{"id":2048754,"classification":"ceremonial objects"}],"exhibitions":[{"exhibitionid":1682,"citation":"The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership (December 16, 1995 - June 9, 1996)","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"1995-12-16","enddate":"1996-06-09","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/1682"}],"cultures":[{"id":12498,"culture":"Olmec","alphasort":"Olmec","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Olmec style","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/y1972-2"],"displaytitle":"Celt","displayculture":"Olmec style","displaymaker":null,"captionhtml":"Olmec style, Middle Formative Period, 1000–400 BCE, Veracruz, Gulf Coast, Mexico, Mesoamerica, <i>Celt</i>. Jadeite; 21 × 11 × 6 cm. Gift of Bernard Sperling (y1972-2)","displaydate":"1000–400 BCE","medium":"Jadeite","media":[{"id":3312,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/y1972-2","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Luna Digitization Project"}],"displayperiod":"Middle Formative Period","extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"Michael D. Coe et al., <I>The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership</I> (Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum, 1996)","citation":"Michael D. Coe et al., <I>The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership</I> (Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum, 1996), cat. no. 123, pp. 226–227 (illus.)","date":1996,"id":2564,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/34103154"},{"boilertext":"<p>\"Acquisitions 1972\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 32, no. 1 (1973): p. 20-30.</p>","citation":"<p>\"Acquisitions 1972\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 32, no. 1 (1973): p. 20-30.</p>, p. 30","date":1973,"id":3442,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774431"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[{"id":24010,"period":"Middle Formative Period","alphasort":"Formative Period, Middle","begindate":-1000,"enddate":-400,"displayperiod":"Middle Formative Period","displaydate":null}],"department":"Art of the Ancient Americas","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199317,"term":"Art of the Ancient Americas","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"1000 B.C.-A.D 1","dateend":-400,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Celt","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":"","objectnumber":"y1972-2","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"<p>Edward H. Merrin Gallery, New York, sold to Bernard Sperling, New York [1]; 1972, gift of Bernard Sperling to the Princeton University Art Museum.\n<br />\n \n<br />\nNotes:\n<br />\n[1] According to Museum accession card, Sperling purchased from Merrin Gallery.\n</p>\n<p></p>\n<font face=\"Times New Roman\" size=\"3\">  </font>","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"Jade was the most prestigious material used to express religious ideology by the Olmec during the Middle Formative period (1000–400 BCE), when maize agriculture became the core source of the incipient state’s stability and wealth. The Olmec preference for blue-green jade, as exemplified by many of the works on view here, likely related to fecundity, whether through its similarity to plant life or to water, an association heightened by its high polish and translucency. Some objects, such as celts, mimic the form of maize cobs, while others seem to represent sprouting kernels. As one of the hardest materials available, jade was exceptionally difficult to shape. Powdered jade was used as an abrasive to allow slow grinding, sawing, drilling, and polishing, processes that could take years to complete for a single object.\n","remarks":"AAA3_20-T3B-8_CLA_FA.pdf - Day 1 installation"}],"datebegin":-1000,"sortnumber":"1972    2y","published_date":"2026-02-11 10:26:58.988457","objectid":31922,"dimensions":"21 × 11 × 6 cm (8 1/4 × 4 5/16 × 2 3/8 in.)","on_view":true}