Collections: The Merle Greene Robertson Collection

Introduction

The Merle Greene Robertson Collection of graphic materials on Maya sculptural art (920 linear feet) housed at Tulane University's Latin American Library is one of the preeminent collections of visual materials gathered at any university research library in the United States for the study of the Maya world--past and present. The collection provides accurate visual records of sculpture, stucco and mural art, and hieroglyphic writing by the ancient Maya inhabitants of regions of Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico from the Classic period (A.D. 200-900). It includes full-scale rubbings of carved monuments and stucco walls, photographs of clay figurines, and photographs, slides, and negatives of public architecture at more than 100 archaeological sites throughout the Maya area, including the important sites of Chichén Itzá and Palenque in Mexico. The collection also includes hundreds of Robertson's own line drawings of Maya sculptural and artistic output and dozens of bound volumes that combine line drawings, original sketches, paintings, photographs, and written text.

The Merle Greene Robertson Collection is currently being organized and processed, and we hope to have its full contents available for research use in the very near future.

 

What is a Rubbing and Why are they Important?

The nearly 2,000 individual ink rubbings of carved monuments are the most important part of the Robertson Collection from a research standpoint. Robertson began making these rubbings in the remote, inhospitable jungle environs of southern Mesoamerica in 1963. The materials now housed at Tulane form the only such collection in existence for Maya monuments. Ink rubbing is a method for recording information from three-dimensional carved surfaces of stone, bone, wood, and shell. Robertson used handmade Japanese papers (usually rice paper), which she affixed to the carved surface. Once in place, the paper was daubed with either an oil pigment or sumi ink using varying techniques, in order to bring forth every cut of the original carving. This technique, particularly as developed by Robertson, results in a faithful rendering of the original sculpture. For several examples, see Selected Rubbings.

By reproducing the actual dimensions, texture and shape of carved objects, the rubbings provide a singular way of documenting and studying the inscriptions and detailed artwork not otherwise available with other commonly-used media such as photography. Yet, once recorded through the method of ink rubbing, these features can be faithfully rendered through digital images of the rubbings themselves. Rubbings can record high and low relief with no distortion and can accurately capture features in low relief which would normally appear in shadow in photographs of the original monument. On very large monuments with curved surfaces, rubbings may be the only true illustration of the relationship of the parts to the whole. The documentary value of the rubbings are further magnified by the fact that, in some cases, the original objects have been lost or stolen, or have been fragmented and reside in various repositories and institutions around the world. Numerous objects are in private collections and are not open to public view. Moreover, the carved or painted information contained on monuments and walls that Robertson recorded decades ago has now been lost over time due to exposure to the tropical climate and other environmental factors.

For more on Merle Greene Robertson and her work:

[Maya rubbings. By] Merle Greene Robertson
[ S.l.] : [s.n.] 1973.
v. (loose-leaf) ; 29 cm.
Latin American Library Rare
F1435.3.A7 R6

The photographs are useful for identifying particular images and sometimes can be used instead of the rubbings, which are quite delicate.

Merle Greene Robertson's rubbings of Maya sculpture
Robertson, Merle Greene.
San Francisco, Calif. : Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, 1993
F 1435.3 .S34 R63 1993

Never in Fear
Robertson, Merle Greene.
[San Francisco, Calif.] : The Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, c2006
CC 115 .R634 R63 2006

Rubbings of Maya Sculpture Iconographic Database
(Precolumbian Art Research Institute)

The Rubbings of Maya Sculpture database uses keywords developed by Merle Greene Robertson. An "Additional Notes" field has been added to provide bibliographical citations and commentary.

The sculpture of Palenque
Robertson, Merle Greene.
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1983-
F 1435.1 .P2 R66 1983