The collection consists of five (5) drawings of frescoes at Chichen Itza made by Adela C. Breton. Three frescoes are represented; two of the drawings are duplicates. The collection also contains a reprint of a conference paper by Breton.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Biographical Note:
Adela Catherine Breton (1849–1923) was an English archaeological artist. She made watercolor copies of the wall paintings of Mexican temples. Many of her drawings are the only remaining record of the temples' appearance in the early twentieth century. Breton first visited Chichen Itza in 1900, and spent the next several years drawing and painting at several Mayan sites.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 7462
Variant Title:
Copies of frescoes at Chichen Itza
Related Materials:
The Department of Anthropology object collections holds artifacts donated by Adela C. Breton.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Works of art
Drawings
Watercolors
Citation:
MS 7462 Adele C. Breton drawings of frescoes at Chichen Itza, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Includes images of the indigenous people of Ecuador, primarily the Tsatchela (Tsachila, Colorado) of Pichincha province and the Shuar-Achuar of Oriente province. Also includes 51 images of the indigenous people of Honduras, primarily the Xicaque and Maya.
Scope and Contents:
The von Hagen collection primarily contains photographs and negatives made by von Hagen during his 1935 and 1936 travels in Ecuador on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. The 1935 materials depict adult and child members of the Shuar-Achuar culture group engaged in weaving, drumming, and cooking. In addition there are representations of indigenous dwellings and of individuals dressed for ceremonies and using blow guns. The 1936 materials overwhelmingly depict Tsáchila (Colorado) peoples preparing food, weaving, potting, playing instruments, and participating in ceremonies, but also include depictions of the Runa (Otavaleño/Otavalo) people spinning cotton and sitting for potraits. The collection also contains photographic materials dated to 1937 that depict Mayan artifacts and Jicaque men of Honduras building rafts, fishing, and standing for their poritraits. Von Hagen's Tsáchila and Jicaque photographs illustrated his contributions to the Museum's series Indian Notes and Monographs, The Tsáchila Indians of western Ecuador (no. 51) and The Jicaque (Torrupan) Indians of Honduras (no. 53).
Arrangement note:
Negatives: organized in individual sleeves; arranged by negative number
Prints: organized in folders; arranged by print number
Arrangement:
Negatives Arranged by negative number (N36360, N36648, N36654-N36656, N36661, N36733-N36740, N36749-N36752, N36755, N36758-N36769, N36772-N36779, N36781-N36797, N36803-N36853, N37366, N37386, N41444)
Prints Arranged by photograph number (P11502-P11510, P12316-P12473, P12522-P12525, P12596-P12657, P12855-P12859, P12941-P12949, P13329-P13362, P15428, P15491, P15585, P16246)
Biographical/Historical note:
Victor Wolfgang von Hagen was an American explorer, archaeological historian, anthropologist, naturalist, zoologist, and travel writer. In the 1930s, he led several Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation collecting expeditions to Central and South America and continued to travel throughout the region into the 1970s.
Provenance:
Gift of Dr. von Hagen
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Victor Wolfgang von Hagen collection of photographs and negatives, 1935-1937, National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or print number).
This collection contains 86 black-and-white negatives taken by Gregory Mason from 1916-1931. The images depict scenes of Belize, Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico, including Mexico City, Cozumel, Chichén Itzá and other sites in Quintana Roo.
Scope and Contents:
The Gregory Mason collection contains negatives made from 1916 to 1931 by Mason. The 1916 negatives depict the streets in and suburbs of Mérida, Mexico, and of people bundling fibers on a nearby plantation. The negatives dating from 1922 were made in Chichén Itzá. In 1928, Mason made negatives in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. The Belize negatives depict Mayan antiquities, various street scenes, and native peoples gathering leaves and chicle, spinning fiber, and canoeing; the Quintana Roo, Mexico, negatives depict Isla Cozumel and other Mayan sites; and the Guatemala negatives Quiriguá. The 1931 negatives made in Colombia primarily depict individuals from the Kogi, Ika, and Wayuu culture groups. Mason made some of these negatives on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
Arrangement:
Arranged by negative number (N20447-N20532)
Biographical/Historical note:
Born in 1889, Gregory Mason was an American journalist with a keen interest in anthropology. Early in his career, he traveled widely as a reporter for the newspaper New York Evening Sun and the news magazine The Outlook. In 1926, he and Herbert Spinden led the Mason-Spinden expedition to explore Mayan ruins in Mexico. Funded in part by Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, Mason led four additional expeditions to Central and South America. He wrote several books, including "Silver Cities of Yucatan" (1927), "Columbus Came Late" (1931), and "Remember the Maine" (1939). From 1941 to 1954, he was chairman of the Department of Journalism at New York University. Mason died in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1968.
Provenance:
Historically, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation managed all photographic and related manuscript collections separately. This collection description represents current management practices of organizing and contextualizing related archival materials.
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Rights:
Copyright: National Museum of the American Indian.
Genre/Form:
Black-and-white negatives
Citation:
Gregory Mason negatives, National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or catalog number).
