Thanks to the generosity of our former curator of graphic arts, Gillett G. Griffin, we hold a collection of 147 clay stamp seals, roller seals, and flat seals with handles. Housed in four large boxes, staff members Teresa T. Basler and Charles E. Greene organized the collection into the following series: Series 1: Stamp Seals: Anthropomorphic Designs; Series 2: Stamp Seals: Zoomorphic Designs; Series 3: Stamp Seals: Geometric, Floral, and Other Designs; Series 4: Large Flat Seals (with handles); Series 5: Roller Seals.
Mesoamerican seals (or sellos) were used for printing with colored pigments. The Oxford Companion to Western Art, notes that surviving Pre-Columbian examples are made of clay or terracotta and occasionally of stone, but later seals have been found made of wood. The relief patterns were either for a positive or negative image (by contrast, the designs on Ancient Near Eastern seals are always negative, since they were intended to produce positive images on wet clay).
The use of seals was widespread in Mesoamerica, parts of the Caribbean, and in the intermediate areas between Mesoamerica and the central Andes in South America. Use in Mesoamerica began about 1500 B.C.E. during the Pre-Classic period. A large numbers of seals have also been found at Olmec sites in the Gulf Coast region from the same era.
For more information, see Anthony Ortegon, Pre-Columbian Stamp Seals (Pueblo, Colo.: AOA Associates, 1999). Rare Books: Reference Collection (ExB) E59 .A7 1999
Hi,
I am writing a short presentation of a sello of the Cumin Museum Collection in London. I was wondering were the images of the spider monkey sellos came from and if you wouldn't mind me using them (mentioning that it comes from this website of course).
Many thanks,
Myriam
Greetings!
I am researching a particular sello design that is available in Jorge Enciso's book Design Motifs of Ancient Mexico (1957). Unfortuantely, there is not much written about the design in the book except that it was found in Veracruz and that it is a sun symbol. Can you please refer me to someone who may know something about this design. I have found that this design is used all over the internet, especially in connection with Latin organizations. It is also being woven into blankets in Oaxaca and sold online: http://www.mexiko4u.at/es/tapete-de-lana-sol-zapoteco.html If you could tell me anything, I would be very excited. Thank you for your time.
I realized that the image is no longer on that website. So here is another link to it: http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/images-c/can_24_1.jpg
I have a round seal shaped like a pear a couple of inches high and one inch a the bottom ---it has a hole appears to be hung with a string on the neck of bearer. I am told that it is the seal of a chief --I do not know...made out of dirt brown or clay...It was found in Costa Rica , Central America. Its been in my family for years...any ideas anyone?
Write me to mpajd11@msn.com