Material Calcite onyx Discovered Teotihuacan, Mexico Location British Museum | Created 400-600 AD Registration Am1926-22 Present location British Museum | |
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Size Height 16 cm, Length 33.5cm | ||
The Teotihuacan Ocelot or Teotihuacán Ocelot is the name of an alabaster sculpture of a feline found at the ancient Mesoamerican site of Teotihuacan, central Mexico. Discovered in the late nineteenth century. it was purchased by the British Museum in 1926.
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Description
This unique sculpture is an offering vessel in the form of a recumbent ocelot. Carved from a single piece of prestigious alabaster, the figure reflects the geometric style and pattern of contemporary funerary masks and architecture from Teotihuacan. The eyes would have once been inlaid with shells or precious stones and the depression on the feline's back would have held the temple offering - some have conjectured that this may have included human hearts removed for ritual sacrifices.
Provenance
The feline figure was found by a labourer at the foot of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan in 1889. It was initially offered to the Museo Nacional, but as they would not buy it, it was sold to an English traveller. The sculpture was eventually bought by the British Museum in 1926, with support from the Christy Fund. Only one other similar calcite statuette of a jaguar has been unearthed at the site, which is now in the Mexican national collection.