Jaws of Death - The Kuntz Axe

Kuntz Axe, 12"h x 6"w x 4"d, jade, Olmec 1200 - 500 BC

As a stalk and ambush predator, the jaguar usually attacks from the victim’s blind side. In the dim and dappled light of the jungle, the cat takes advantage of its silent movement and camouflaging coloration. It can seem as if the attack has materialized out of thin air. If it is a miss, the cat can disappear as swiftly and silently as a shaft of light. For the Olmec people of ancient Mexico (1500 BC – 400 BC), the jaguar was such a perfect predator it appeared to be magical. With its qualities of lethality and stealth in hunting abilities, indigenous people held the jaguar in awe and esteem. They prized and respected the jaguar’s traits so highly that they believed jaguars had supernatural powers. The mortal fear of being stalked and attacked was so great, the Olmec turned the jaguar into a chthonic god because within its superb hunting abilities it held the power of life and death. Staring into the face of its deadly fangs and jaws, the mouth of the jaguar for the Olmec became as the inescapable Hellmouth for Europeans, the transitional portal to the afterlife. These qualities were also sought for in Olmec leaders. It was expected that their kings could transform during religious ritual into a werejaguar, a half man half jaguar entity that conjoins not only the courage and prowess of the jaguar, but also its physical characteristics as well. The paralyzing and terrifying sight of a jaguar, mouth agape in growling mortal attack, has been venerated and idealized in many Olmec works of art.

Jaguar: Panthera onca

The Olmec were the earliest known major civilization in Mesoamerica with their beginning placed around 1500 BC. They were centered on the tropical coast along the Gulf of Mexico, in the present southern Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco near Guatemala. The Olmec are credited with forming the cultural basis of many Central and South American indigenous cultures. They may have discovered how to harvest and cure rubber for use as balls for their ritual games. For this, the Aztec gave them the name of Olmec, which means “rubber people.” The ball games, which were played on a designated court became part of all major Mesoamerican cultures and are speculated to have been invented by them. From the materials of the artifacts associated with them, it is clear that they had an extensive trading system with other peoples for materials that they held precious, especially jade, obsidian, and feathers. Much of the physical evidence of their culture remains mysterious and in need of further study. They left only limited writing that has not been deciphered. Their major cities were systematically destroyed for unknown reasons. How and why the Olmec civilization disappeared remains a mystery, but their legacy lived through all of Central and South American pre-history.

The visual center of the Kuntz Axe is focused on the snarling, horrifying mouth which is the most detailed and attentively carved area of the sculpture. This is where the magic is concentrated, on the area of transition, the jaws of death, that fanged and threatening opening to the underworld. This is an Olmec object that embodies the half human, half jaguar figure, the werejaguar that was not only a god, but also expected to be the embodiment of their leaders. This idealization of the terrifying mouth was so revered and omnipresent in the artifacts; it has become the defining style of the culture. The proportion of the head is somewhat greater than half of the figure which intensifies the visual focus onto the mouth. The remainder of the carving on the head is skillful, but the feline nose is distorted by the oversized grimace of the mouth. The slanted eyes provide a catlike sinister glint adding to the primal sensation of the fear of the imminence of death surrounding it. The body tapers away from the head giving it the axe-like shape it is named for. Two muscular arms are defined in shallow relief. The hands are held in front of the chest area. Only one is depicted, because they are clasping a pointed object. The half-hidden object clasped in the hands is a perforator, a long, sharp ritual object, which could have been made of jade, flint, bone or a sting ray spine. Perforators were used to pierce the tongue, foreskin or earlobes in the ritual bloodletting of the Olmec people. The Kuntz Axe is made of jade, which is precious in ancient South American cultures, because of its translucency and color. Jade for Mesoamerican cultures was a symbol of life sustaining water and the fecundity of the forest. As water and the forest embodied growth and life, jade also became associated by extension with blood, also necessary for life. This association with blood and life made jade and jade artifacts treasured among all Central and South American indigenous peoples. At 12 inches in height, The Kuntz Axe is one of the largest jade objects found in Mesoamerica. The size, the high value of the material used in creating this object, the care and skill apparent in the carving all point to its sacredness.

An Olmec perforator made of jade.

In the habitat of the equatorial forest, with the jaguar as the apex predator, the notion of predator and prey keeping the cycle of life going is duplicated and intensified in the diversity and abundance of the ecology. The Olmec people providing blood to bloodthirsty supernatural beings such as the night sky jaguar god, kept the gods satisfied and hopefully prevented them from taking vengeance on the population. It was one of the duties of the ruler/priest to protect the population from the wrath of the gods. They offered their blood in supplication, in place of the lives of the people in the hope of keeping the forces of nature, the spirits and humanity in balance. The ritual of bloodletting was practiced by many Mesoamerican cultures, including the Olmec who may have originated the practice. The drawing of blood from various fleshy points on the body (tongue, foreskin, earlobes) was reserved for the rulers or religious leaders (often one and the same). The ritual was a public display that proved the leader retained the courage and strength to rule, but also had the required sacred ability to communicate with the gods and appease them. The blood was allowed to drip on copal incense, cloth or bark paper. These were burned to send the vitality inherent in the blood to the gods in an effort to keep the dark forces at bay that could threaten the fertility or success of the community.

Blood sacrifice is the key to understanding the Kuntz Axe. This object is highly charged with meaning and drama and designed to be present during the gore and emotional intensity of the sacrificial ritual. The deep depressions in the mouth may have held drops of the priest’s blood as part of the offering, intensifying the idea of the jaguar mouth as a portal of transition into the otherworld. The deep groove under the head creates a shadow that separates the head so that in certain light it appears to be floating above the body. This adds to its magical, god-like quality. It has also been suggested that the groove has a more prosaic function, such as a place to tie a cord to bind the figure to a display. Some archeologists have suggested that the idol may have been dressed in ceremonial clothing, given that the body details are mostly suggested. We do not have any actual evidence of how this artifact was actually used in Olmec rituals, but its physical characteristics and symbolism provide a great number of cues that correspond with what we know of their culture.

The Kuntz Axe is misnamed. The title obscures its true identity as a Mesoamerican artifact. Instead the object’s cultural identity is obscured by naming it for a past American owner. The “Kuntz” part comes from George Kuntz, who was a mineralogist and a late 19th century Vice President of Tiffany jewelers. He acquired and described the artifact in 1890. Kuntz subsequently donated it to the American Museum of Natural History in 1891 because he recognized its cultural and archeological importance. The “axe” part of the name is derived from the overall shape if the object, thick at the top and tapering toward the bottom like an axe head. There is no evidence that the Kuntz Axe was ever intended to be used as an axe to chop or hack. The object is purely ceremonial and magical in nature, intended to intimidate with its visual presence and incite reverence with its symbolic power. Many of the jade Olmec artifacts that have been recovered, were found within and among other Mesoamerican culture’s artifacts. The Kuntz Axe’s circuitous route to The American Museum of Natural History follows this pattern of ancient collecting. It started in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico some miles inland from the territory of the Olmec. In Oaxaca, is seems to have been found among the artifacts of the Zapotec people who were a prominent ancient culture there and who were known to admire Olmec jade. From there it was passed to a collector who knew Kuntz and believed Kuntz would be interested in such a large piece of jade.

Even in its present state, isolated from its origins, without the context of its culture or understanding its purpose, the Kuntz Axe projects power. It may seem repugnant or bizarre, but the flaring mouth draws the eye in and projects the supernatural. The feline eyes, even with their limited modeling, project the sinister expression of a predator. The muscular arms feel tensed, about to thrust the perforator to begin the letting of blood. The object knows its purpose even if we no longer do. It is telling us it secrets in a language of darkness that we turn away from in horror.

Arthur Bruso © 2019

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The Birth of Venus - Victorian Bowl

New treasure. Bowl depicting The Birth of Venus, with Triton and Eros attending. 9.5" diameter, no makers marks, porcelain. Triton blows the fanfare as Aphrodite arrives reclining on her shell. She is attended by Eros and Anteros. One is about to drape his mother with a garland of roses. The other is riding a dolphin. The scene is surrounded by stylized papyrus in gold on a blue background. These are obvious symbols of water.

Detail of the center image.

Arthur Bruso © 2019

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Spreading the Word – A Review of "A History of Illuminated Manuscripts" by Christopher de Hamel

Wax writing tablet with several leaves.

It could be argued that the book was the greatest achievement in communication after writing. The book form as we know it: pages sewn together at one side, sandwiched between two stiff boards, evolved from the ancient Roman wax writing tablet. Several tablets could be lashed together with cord along one side to provide more writing surface, taking the approximate structure of the modern book. This form of leaved book is technically known as a codex. The codex was further influenced by the Roman habit of carrying around more portable folded pieces of papyrus on which to write notes. Before the codex was developed, the primary form books took was the scroll. The scroll had its inconveniences. It was difficult to hold flat, which made it difficult to read. It could only be read a section at a time and it was difficult to navigate to specific sections of the text. By the waning years of the Roman Empire, the codex had supplanted the scroll as the form of choice for reading and writing.

In his History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Christopher de Hamel begins by giving the Christians credit for making the codex the primary carrier for the written word in the western world. The format of the Bible and the Gospels required that the various sections be referred to as needed, and the codex offered the ease of flipping through a text to find the looked-for section which the scroll did not. They needed something portable and durable to withstand the rigors of travel and handling. In its first centuries, Christianity exploited the attributes of the codex, allowing the Gospel to be carried and shown to every corner of the known world.

Having studied at Oxford and headed the department of Western Manuscripts at Sotheby’s until 2000, De Hamel has nurtured an expertise on medieval manuscripts. His thorough understanding on his chosen topic shows in his exceptional method of organizing the material. A simple timeline on the development of manuscripts would be confusing, since there were many kinds of manuscript books which evolved for different purposes. De Hamel divides the major categories of books: Missionaries, Emperors, Monks, Students, Aristocrats, Everybody (this chapter discusses manuscripts that anyone would own, especially the middle class), Priests, and Collectors into chapter headings. Within each chapter, he traces the development and history of each category. Each has its unique properties that set it apart; missionary books had to be impressive, with illustrations to explain and convince the non-believer; the emperor’s books had to be rich with costly materials as well as having many full page pictures as befits a monarch, monks needed sturdy books for prayer that could withstand daily use; students needed inexpensive books; aristocrats craved costly looking books that could emulate the king’s and show their social position; the rising middle class (discussed under the chapter titled Everybody) were also willing to pay a handsome price for a Book of Hours and so conspicuously show the fashionable that they could afford such treasures; and priests needed several kinds of books, some for show in the church for prestige and to awe the congregation with the glory of God’s Word, and other more sturdy books for study and reference.

With each chapter, the author begins the category with an appropriate story that sets the tone and emphasizes the subject which gains the readers interest. It is an effective method, drawing in the reader and making a potential stodgy history relevant and alive. These are obscure yet interesting anecdotes about Medieval books. As in Books for Missionaries, he conveys the story of St. Augustine and his missionaries traveling to Briton in 597 AD to bring the Word of Christ to convert the heathens of the British Isles. With the assistance of the books Augustine carried which functioned to reinforce his message, he achieved success in converting the Britons. It was the books they carried that gave Christianity its edge in the pagan world. Christianity is a religion of the book and its message goes hand and hand with literacy. This was a new concept to the pagans who had no written word. Missionaries could face skeptical audiences with the Gospels, a manual for salvation written by God, and face down an oral tradition of myth. The illiterate and barely literate could be impressed by a written message that was believed to come directly from its spiritual source. In the second chapter titled Books for Emperors, De Hamel relates a legend about the opening of Charlemagne’s tomb in 1000 AD by Otto III. The story handed down is that Charlemagne was interred sitting up with a splendid illuminated manuscript on his lap. De Hamel makes the point that lavish illustrated manuscripts would have been part of the regalia of a Christian ruler.

Until 1200, most manuscripts were copied by monks to further the glory of God and his Holy Word. They were created as both a labor of faith and as meditative prayer to grow closer to the Devine. Conversely, they could be copied as a penance to atone for and cleanse themselves of human foibles. The highest standards and materials were used for these works, with gold and silver being prominent as befits the concept of God as the light and for the glorification of scripture as His sacred word. Manuscripts at this time were limited to the Bible, the Gospels, and other liturgical books. There were also a few books of classical philosophy such as Aristotle who became the basis of Medieval thought in the universities and bestiaries that were considered to further Christian dogma by presenting all the creations of God. But most ancient classical writing was ignored for copying since it was the product of pagans and promoted pagan thought. While many Roman and Greek texts were saved in monastic or the Papal libraries, they were mostly ignored. This often led to their deterioration and subsequent loss. It should be stressed, that even though most manuscripts produced by monks were liturgical in nature, it was the monastery and the church leadership that preserved the limited literature handed down to us from ancient European sources. Most books during this period were copied or created for the use of the clergy. By monastic law and papal decree, each monastery was required to maintain a library and certain liturgical books. Royalty also commissioned a few manuscripts for prestige and presentation to dignitaries. Literacy during the early Middle Ages was limited to the clergy and a few kings and some aristocracy. After 800 AD during the reign of Charlemagne, reading and writing in Latin became fashionable for the upper classes.

After the 12th century, the reestablishment of trade routes began the rise of middle class and with it a rise in literacy. This created a subsequent interest in secular literature causing the monastic scriptorium to have to take on lay scribes to keep up with increasing commissions. These lay scribes at first would be allowed to work in the monastery separated from the monks. Eventually, the scribes began to set up their own scriptoria outside of the monastery and in time took over the creation of illuminated manuscripts. As a secular enterprise, the range of subject matter for books expanded from the liturgical subjects to include more popular writing and the rediscovered classical texts. This allowed authors such as Dante, Marco Polo and Boccaccio to find distribution for their works and helped to develop a new market for worldly literature.

With the rise of the scriptoria outside of the monastery, the quality of the illustrated manuscript suffered. No longer were the scribes creating books simply for the glory of God. They were creating books to satisfy the commercial interests of a patron, a student or a collector. The glorious religious texts with their sumptuous treasure bindings gave way to plainer leather bindings, less ornamented script with minimal gilding, fewer illustrations (or none) and those illustrations which were included began to follow a formula. Yet the secularization opened up an entire new guild of workers and offered new career opportunities for women. Many scriptoria that were established employed female painters and scribes, especially in large cities such as Paris and Bologna. De Hamel drops this intriguing bit of feminist history with the casual ease of the expert. He does not elaborate further because no further information has come to light. Most scribes and illuminators worked anonymously. It was only through their names and occupations appearing on the tax lists of the time that provided clues of their existence. I mention this not only because it bears emphasis for the current exploration of women in European art history, but also because recently this bit of information has been making the rounds of the internet as if it is entirely new scholarship. It is not. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts was published in 1986 and certainly, woman’s roles in manuscript production was understood before then.

A History of Illuminated Manuscripts covers the period of the beginning of the Middle Ages (5th century) to the invention of printing, about the 1440’s. The keyword is “manuscript”: written by hand. All of the Illuminated manuscripts created in those 800 years were the product of hand labor. Handwriting text was laborious and slow, often fraught with boredom and errors. It represented an extraordinary commitment of time and effort. Yet, as the author tells us, illuminated manuscripts are the most numerous works of art to survive from the Middle Ages because they were treasured and protected. De Hamel provides engrossing explanations on the methods of producing manuscripts. The use of techniques that were used to speed up the process, such as pricking the ends of the lines through the folio before writing to speed up the ruling of the pages. He explains how the division of labor between the scribe, illustrator, painter, gilder, and binder helped to simplify the complex process of finishing a book. All throughout, there are copious illustrations of the most important Gospels, examples of unfinished manuscripts which show the stages of a book’s production, the evolution of script styles to speed up the copying, illumination and gilding techniques and how bindings were determined by the end use of the book. He explains the major schools and styles of manuscripts that developed between monasteries, countries and kingdoms. He also reveals how styles of illustration can determine the age and origin of a manuscript. He even discusses how the Book of Hours contributed to the devolution of the illustrated manuscript as they became more popular with a burgeoning middle class and needed to become more formulaic and ordered by pattern to keep up with the demand.

A History of Illuminated Manuscripts is an art history book for the scholar as well as the general interest reader. There is enough detail and deep investigation into the subject to keep both camps satisfied. It is heavily illustrated making the book an important resource for a beginning study of Medieval books and a visual delight to simply browse. It has even become a standard college text for specialists studying the field. The Wikipedia page for Illustrated Manuscripts is even lifted directly from de Hamel’s book. The period of time in Europe between the fall of the Roman empire and the rise of the Renaissance has often been described as the Dark Ages. The dark refers to the period of the reinvention of European culture after the glory of the Roman achievement in art, architecture, and the unification of government. However, the illustrated manuscript continued to develop in an unbroken line from classical Rome until the invention of printing, through the efforts of the Christians and their heavenly directive to spread the Gospel of the Lord. The monasteries and the Church preserved the written word and art in the form of painting and drawing of the Gospel illustrations. Creativity continued and flourished (although under the limiting set of constrictions of Christianity) in the colorful, glowing and magically enlivening illustration of liturgical texts. It was the illustrated manuscript and later the gothic cathedral that became the highest cultural achievements of the Medieval Age. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts is a thorough and necessary book on the history of books. It helps the reader to see the astonishing achievement of the preservation of information at a time of social unrest and widespread ignorance by showing how creating these books that shine bright with light and color, kept knowledge from fading during darkness.

Arthur Bruso © 2019

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