Dumbarton Oaks birthing figure

The Dumbarton Oaks birthing figure is a possibly Aztec scapolite figurine of a woman giving childbirth in a squatting position.

Housed in the Dumbarton Oaks collection, United States, the figurine is considered by several scholars to be a pre-Columbian artwork, while others believe it was made in modern times, possibly in the 19th century.

[1] In 1906, Hamy published an article in the Journal de la Société des Américanistes writing that the figurine is of pre-Columbian Mexican origin and represents the Aztec goddess Ixcuina, also known as Tlazolteotl.

Scholars such as Pal Kelemen, Miguel Covarrubias, John Alden Mason, Michael D. Coe and Jeffrey Quilter also considered the figurine to be authentic.

[1] According to Jane MacLaren Walsh, "the essential nature of the sculpture is almost completely anomalous with regard to the accepted canon of Mexica art, and does not in fact resemble any other Mesoamerican art form" and "the choice of stone, the complicated carving in the round, the birthing position, the facial expression of the mother, the somewhat grotesque realism, the lack of iconographic detail all point to a highly idiosyncratic work".