Lot 243
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, ca. 200 BCE to 200 CE. A remarkable example! Pottery female seated on 2-legged stool, body bent slightly forward, covered in the finest deep red slip. Her hands are on her ample hips, nude from head to toes her only embellishment are three circular earrings in each ear. Her face in quite unique with features cut into her face, not added on. Her eyes are almond shaped recesses looking almost as if she were in a trance. Deep nostrils and mouth - even her earrings are cut into the side of her face. Hair denoted by carved striations parted down the middle. One of my favorite pottery figures from this region that I have ever handled! Size: 7.25" W x 16.5" H (18.4 cm x 41.9 cm)
West Mexican shaft tomb figures like this example derive their names from the central architectural feature that we know of from this culture. Jalisco, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was part of the shaft tomb culture during this time, along with neighbors in nearby Colima and Nayarit. These people would build generally rectangular vertical or near-vertical shafts down from the ground level - usually about 3 to 20 meters deep - through tepetate, the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region, to narrow horizontal tunnels that led to one or more vaulted or rounded burial chambers.
These shafts were almost always dug beneath a dwelling, probably a family home, and seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. Figures like this one were placed into the tombs; researchers believe that they were placed around the edges facing inward, as if in conversation with the dead. Grouped with other figures, and alongside clay bowls, and boxes, figures this one were positioned around the body (or bodies) near the skull, and warriors like this example were meant as a means of spiritual protection from evil spirits.
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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#194808
- Condition: A few small imperfections to the red slip else intact and excellent.
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