Lot 56
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A rare and quietly unsettling figural composition, this Jalisco ceramic sculpture captures an intimate and possibly ritualized moment rendered in the region's distinctive shaft tomb tradition. The terracotta group is formed as a low rectangular bed supported by four stout legs, its surface enclosed at either end by two thick, arched structures that rise like protective canopies. Beneath these arches lie two human figures: one stretched along the platform, its limbs constrained and body held rigid, the other positioned near the foot, turned toward the bound individual in a posture that suggests watchfulness or participation. The figures are modeled with the characteristic abstraction of Jalisco work - rounded forms, simplified features, and a focus on gesture over anatomical precision. Size: 6.7" L x 3.6" W x 3.9" H (17 cm x 9.1 cm x 9.9 cm)
Traces of red slip and painted banding remain across the arches and bed frame, lending the piece a rhythmic visual structure. The enclosing arches may represent architectural elements, perhaps a funerary bier, house interior, or symbolic threshold, framing the scene as one suspended between the domestic and the ceremonial.
Such narrative groupings are associated with shaft tomb burials of West Mexico, where ceramic figures were placed as companions to the dead. The bound posture may indicate ritual restraint, sacrifice, or a dramatized episode from lived or mythic experience - its exact meaning now lost, but its presence unmistakably deliberate. The composition invites speculation, offering a glimpse into a world where storytelling, ritual, and the afterlife were closely entwined.
Provenance: private New York, USA collection; ex-Lands Beyond Time, New York, New York, USA
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#201603
- Condition: Arches and one bed leg have been repaired with break lines visible. Weathering to surface with some nicks and abrasions as shown. Otherwise, nice presentation with good detail and liberal remaining painted decoration.
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