Descriptive Summary
Biographical/Historical Note
Administrative Information
Related Archival Materials
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Augustus and Alice Dixon Le Plongeon Photographs of Chichén Itza, Uxmal and
Yucatán
Date (inclusive): 1873-1910
Number: 2007.R.8
Creator/Collector:
Le Plongeon,
Augustus, 1826-1908
Physical Description:
46 photographs
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Photographs by Augustus and Alice Dixon
Le Plongeon document Maya architecture and sculpture at the archaeological sites of Chichén
Itzá and Uxmal in the Yucatán peninsula. Images of Yucatán towns, flora, fauna, and peoples
are also included in the collection.
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Language: Collection material is in English.
Biographical/Historical Note
Augustus Le Plongeon was a medical doctor, photographer, antiquarian, and amateur
archaeologist of French origins. In the early 1860s, after spending time in Chile and
northern California, Le Plongeon moved to Lima, Peru, where he practiced medicine and
photography, and became interested in Peruvian archaeology. On a trip to London he met and
married Alice Dixon, daughter of the architectural photographer Henry Dixon. The couple
returned to North America where they devoted their lives' work to excavating, documenting,
and interpreting the Maya ruins and culture of the Yucatán peninsula. They spent over a
decade exploring Yucatán and Central America, excavating at Chichén Itzá and Uxmal.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Augustus and Alice Dixon Le Plongeon Photographs of Chichén Itza, Uxmal and Yucatán, The
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2007.R.8.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2007r8
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 2007.
Processing History
Processed by Beth Ann Guynn in 2007. Finding aid encoded by Beth Ann Guynn and Linda
Kleiger in 2014.
Related Archival Materials
The Getty Research Library holds the following collections of Augustus and Alice Dixon Le
Plongeon and Le Plongeon-related materials: Views of Maya Ruins in the Yucatán, Special
Collections accn. no. 96.R.137; Augustus and Alice Dixon Le Plongeon papers, 1763-1937, bulk
1860-1910, Special Collections accn. no. 2004.M.18; and the Lawrence Gustave Desmond papers
relating to Augustus and Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, 1856-2007, Special Collections accn. no.
2013.M.12.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection of photographs by Augustus and Alice Dixon Le Plongeon documents Maya
architecture and sculpture at the archaeological sites of Chichén Itzá and Uxmal in the
Yucatán peninsula. Images of the towns, flora, fauna, and peoples of Yucatán are also
included. One photograph shows Alice Le Plongeon in front of the Pyramid of Kinich Kak Moo
at Izamal. A late portrait of Alice Le Plongeon is also present.
Photographs taken during the Le Plongeons's visits to Chichén Itzá between 1873 and 1883
include general views of Chichén Itzá, and views and details of the Upper and Lower Temples
of the Jaguars, Las Monjas, La Iglesia, Akab-Dzib, and the Platform of Venus. Also included
are a photograph of Alice Le Plongeon and workers with the Chacmool statue shortly after it
was excavated, and another view of the statue after it had been taken to Mexico City and
installed in the National Museum.
Photographs taken during the Le Plongeons's stay at Uxmal in 1876 include general views as
well as views and details of the Adivino Pyramid and Chenes Temple, the Nunnery Quadrangle,
and the Governor's Palace. The couple's activities at the site are represented by a
photograph of the Le Plongeons in their living quarters in the Governor's Palace and by
photographs taken by Alice of Augustus photographing the east facade of the Governor's
Palace and making molds of its reliefs.
During their years in Yucatán both the Le Plongeons took and developed photographs.
Photographs known to have been made by Alice Le Plongeon or unidentified photographers are
labeled as such, otherwise the photogrpahs can be attributed to Augustus and/or the couple.
The photographs are on cardboard mounts and are either albumen or collodion prints, as
noted. Dates recorded are for the date the original negatives were made. The collodion
prints were made in the late 1880s and 1890s, whereas the albumen prints were made closer to
the dates that the images were taken. Unless otherwise noted, the mounts are annotated in
the hand of Maude Blackwell, a close friend of the Le Plongeons. Annotations such as
"Blackwell," "property of Maude Blackwell," or similar wording, and phrases such as
"Photograph by Dr. Le Plongeon," "Le P.," or "Plongeon" are found on most mounts. Titles of
the photographs are devised by the cataloger, except as noted.
Arrangement
Arranged in a single series:
Series I. Augustus and Alice Dixon Le Plongeon Photographs of
Chichén Itza, Uxmal and Yucatán, 1873-1910.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Topics
Mayas -- Mexico -- Yucatán (State) -- Antiquities
Maya sculpture
Maya mural painting and decoration
Maya architecture
Indian art -- Mexico
Chac Mool
Subjects - Places
Mexico -- Description and travel
Izmal Site (Mexico) -- Antiquities
Yucatán Peninsula -- Description and travel
Uxmal Site (Mexico) -- Antiquities
Chichén Itzá Site (Mexico) -- Antiquities
Genres and Forms of Material
Albumen prints -- Mexico -- 19th century
Collodion prints-Mexico–19th century
Photographs, Original
Contributors
Le Plongeon, Alice D. (Alice
Dixon), 1851-1910
Le Plongeon,
Augustus, 1826-1908