Lot 27
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A quiet warmth radiates from this seated nude male figure, his body shaped with the gentle asymmetries and handmade softness that mark the finest Jalisco sculpture. He sits with legs drawn into a triangular brace beneath him, elbows resting atop his knees, and a petite projecting phallus tucked modestly between the legs - a small but deliberate sign of vitality in West Mexican figural art. Formed of burnished red and cream clay, his surface carries the mottled traces of age and burial, where ancient slips once glowed more brightly across the torso and limbs. His face is modeled with that unmistakable Jalisco blend of abstraction and intimacy: heavy-lidded eyes, a pronounced nose, and a faintly smiling mouth shaped as though caught in a moment of reflection. Large spool-like ear ornaments and a rounded headband frame the head, recalling the elite adornments found across the shaft tomb cultures of Nayarit, Colima, and Jalisco. Size: 5.1" L x 4.1" W x 6.3" H (13 cm x 10.4 cm x 16 cm)
Figures of this type were typically placed in deep shaft tombs, serving as companions, guardians, or representations of community members for the deceased. His relaxed seated posture, open chest, and subtly expressive features suggest a figure connected to everyday life rather than divine ritual, perhaps an ancestor or family member rendered in clay to accompany the journey beyond death. The triangular voids created by his bent legs recall well-documented Jalisco sculptural conventions and give the figure a striking architectural quality. This figure offers a gentle but powerful glimpse into West Mexico's ceramic traditions, where memory, community, and identity were preserved not in writing, but in enduring human form.
Provenance: Collection of Y. Kayvan, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired from a Los Angeles, California, USA gallery acquisition dates range from the late 1990s to 2005
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#199138
- Condition: Professionally repaired with restoration and repainting over break lines. Weathering to surface as shown, all commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent presentation with good remaining pigments and scattered mineral deposits.
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