Pre-Classical Period, 12th-2nd century BC. A carved statuette in very hard, black and brown jade stone, representing a crouched jaguar with open jaws, head turned to the left, mouth wide open and fangs visible; the feline shows rounded ears, open eyes, raised pupils, open jaws that flaunt the fangs and teeth, fangs defined with the sgraffito technique; the tail curled. See Instituto Geologico de M?xico, Catalogo Geográfico de las especies minerales de M?xico, Boletin 41, M?xico, 1923; Mirambell, L.E., Tecnicas Lapidarias Prehispanica, M?xico, 1968; Ward, F., Jade Gem, Boock Publishers, EUA, 1996; Ridinger, M.L., ‘El Jade’ in Arqueologia Mexicana vol. V, No 27 Septiembre-Octubre, pp.52-59, M?xico, 1997; Mirambell, L.E., Materiales Arqueologicos y material prima’, in Serie Arqueologia INAH, M?xico, 2005; Langenscheidt, A., ‘Los Abrasivos en Mesoam?rica’, Arqueologia Mexicana vol. XIV, no.80 Julio-Agosto, M?xico, 2006, pp.55-60.2.1 kg, 20cm (7 3/4"). Property of an Italian collector living in Torino; part of her family's collection since 1965; by descent from her grandmother in 1993; accompanied by a copy of the Italian export permit and a signed academic report by Emilio J. Bejarano Erosa (Director of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico, 1968-1982); also accompanied by scholarly note TL5341 by Dr Ronald Bonewitz; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10279-168426. The jaguar was the archetypal predator in Meso-America. The figure offered here was originally intended as a visual representation of the Olmec myth concerning the interaction of the jaguar spirit with the human one. The myth held that a jaguar copulated with a human female, who eventually gave birth to jaguar men, often represented as young children or adult males. In Mayan mythology the Bacabobs were believed to be jaguar gods, who supported the sky. The statuette here was probably made to give strength to the deceased through the jaguar.