{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[{"id":2035674,"period":"Postclassic"},{"id":2035681,"period":"Late Postclassic"}],"creditline":"Museum purchase, gift of Herbert L. Lucas, Class of 1950","caption":"P’urépecha, Mexica, or Ñuù Savi, Late Postclassic Period, 1350–1521, Puebla, Central Mexico, Mexico, Mesoamerica, Pair of ear ornaments. Obsidian, rock crystal, jade, and gold; 1.8 x 3.7 cm. Museum purchase, gift of Herbert L. Lucas, Class of 1950 (y1989-90 a-b)","cultureterms":[{"id":2040613,"culture":"Nahua"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2048931,"term":"ornament","aatid":300056258,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2040613,"term":"Nahua","aatid":300017793,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2035674,"term":"Postclassic","aatid":300016987,"termtype":"Period / Style"},{"id":2035681,"term":"Late Postclassic","aatid":300134119,"termtype":"Period / Style"},{"id":2130705,"term":"earspools","aatid":300209300,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2162191,"term":"gold","aatid":300011021,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2163032,"term":"quartz crystal","aatid":300011152,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2163406,"term":"jade","aatid":300011119,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2163364,"term":"obsidian","aatid":300011254,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: North America, Mexico, Puebla, Central Mexico","code":"Place made","continent":"North America","subcontinent":"Mesoamerica","country":"Mexico","region":"Central Mexico","state":"Puebla","city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/3521082/estado-de-puebla.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"1.80"},{"element":"Overall","type":"diam.","units":"centimeters","dimension":"3.70"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"1989-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[],"datecomputed":1436,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Ornament","packages":[{"packageid":225488,"name":"Gallery_20(Pavilion5)-AAA"},{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":181974,"name":"web_2020_AAA"},{"packageid":210384,"name":"TDC-Final [4]"},{"packageid":197269,"name":"web_highlights -revised 2021"},{"packageid":208852,"name":"2022_ART267_04_13"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2048931,"classification":"ornament"},{"id":2130705,"classification":"earspools"}],"exhibitions":[],"cultures":[{"id":18505,"culture":"P’urépecha","alphasort":"P’urépecha","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"P’urépecha, Mexica, or Ñuù Savi","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/y1989-90A-B"],"displaytitle":"Pair of ear ornaments","displayculture":"P’urépecha, Mexica, or Ñuù Savi","displaymaker":null,"captionhtml":"P’urépecha, Mexica, or Ñuù Savi, Late Postclassic Period, 1350–1521, Puebla, Central Mexico, Mexico, Mesoamerica, <i>Pair of ear ornaments</i>. Obsidian, rock crystal, jade, and gold; 1.8 x 3.7 cm. Museum purchase, gift of Herbert L. Lucas, Class of 1950 (y1989-90 a-b)","displaydate":"1350–1521","medium":"Obsidian, rock crystal, jade, and gold","media":[{"id":3543,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/y1989-90A-B","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Luna Digitization Project"}],"displayperiod":"Late Postclassic Period","extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections </i>(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013)","citation":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections </i>(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 137","date":2013,"id":1994,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/865020505"},{"boilertext":"Felipe Solís, <EM>The Aztec Empire: Catalogue of the Exhibition</EM> (New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2004).","citation":"Felipe Solís, <EM>The Aztec Empire: Catalogue of the Exhibition</EM> (New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2004)., cat. no. 167 (illus.)","date":2004,"id":2930,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/57144932"},{"boilertext":"Virginia M. Fields, et al., <EM>Children of the Plumed Serpent: the Legacy of Quetzalcoatl in ancient Mexico </EM><EM>(</EM>London: Scala Publishers Limited, 2012).","citation":"Virginia M. Fields, et al., <EM>Children of the Plumed Serpent: the Legacy of Quetzalcoatl in ancient Mexico </EM><EM>(</EM>London: Scala Publishers Limited, 2012)., p. 205 (illus.), p. 229, p. 249","date":2012,"id":1385,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/755905566"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1989,\" <EM>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </EM>49, no. 1 (1990): p. 24-57.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1989,\" <EM>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </EM>49, no. 1 (1990): p. 24-57., p. 56","date":1990,"id":3099,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774747"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[{"id":24018,"period":"Late Postclassic Period","alphasort":"Postclassic Period, Late","begindate":1350,"enddate":1521,"displayperiod":"Late Postclassic Period","displaydate":null}],"department":"Art of the Ancient Americas","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199317,"term":"Art of the Ancient Americas","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1000-1500","dateend":1521,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Pair of ear ornaments","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":"","objectnumber":"y1989-90 a-b","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"<p>\n\tNovember 9, 1989, Paul Arany, New York, sold to the Princeton University Art Museum [1].\n</p>\n<p>\n\tNotes:\n\t<br />\n\t[1] According to an Arany invoice in the curatorial file.\n</p>","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"The ears and mouth were focal places for body ornament throughout Mesoamerica because they were believed to be the areas where the breath-soul emanated from the body and could be qualified as precious and pleasant. The Mexica emperors known as Hue Tlatoani, “Great Speakers,” were first and foremost orators, and their speech was inflected by their fine lip plugs. According to sixteenth-century accounts, the Mexica restricted who could wear ornaments of certain materials. Gold was limited to the nobility, while obsidian ornaments could be worn by commoners. The combination of gold and obsidian in the same objects, as seen in this case, seems at odds with these sumptuary restrictions. Perhaps they were made and worn by P’urépecha people, who did not abide by the same regulations as the Mexica. Excavations at their capital of Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán, reveal that they embellished fine, thin obsidian ornaments with exotic materials such as turquoise.\n","remarks":"AAA3_20-T3G-7_CLA_FA.pdf - Day 1 installation"}],"datebegin":1350,"sortnumber":"1989   90ya    b","published_date":"2026-03-05 09:07:02.972254","objectid":33227,"dimensions":"h. 1.8, diam. 3.7 cm. (11/16 x 1 7/16 in.)","on_view":true}