Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks: Pre-Columbian Art at Dumbarton Oaks, No. 2 (review)

In this profusely illustrated work, Taube gives complete scholarly descriptions and analyses of the 39 items in the collection of Olmec art held by Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. Half of the pieces are made of jade, while the others are carved from similar materials. The Olmec holdings form an important part of the larger collection of Pre-Columbian art acquired by Dumbarton Oaks’ patron, Robert Woods Bliss, during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Taube has also provided an extensive introduction to the Olmec and to scholarship on the Olmec. The work is a good synthesis of the current state of Olmec studies. The essays on individual pieces discuss the different Olmec deities, symbolism and iconography in Olmec art, and also link the Olmecs to the later and often more widely studied cultures of Mesoamerica. It is a lovely volume and can be of great assistance to scholars interested in understanding the cultural manifestations of this ancient people. This work is the second volume describing the Pre-Columbian art in the Bliss collection.