Lot 101E
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A hollow-built pottery female figure with highly burnished surfaces decorated with characteristic red-brown slip. The stocky woman presents nude with a delineated pubis between her attenuated legs, perky nipples atop breasts flush with her portly abdomen, and broad shoulders. Her left hand brandishes a petite olla in a welcoming gesture as she grasps the rim of a much larger vase behind her opposite shoulder, perhaps once filled with alcoholic or hallucinogenic refreshments. Her puffy eyes rest beneath her arched brows and flank her sharply angled nose, and a cap with a short brim stretching from temple to temple. Size: 12" W x 16" H (30.5 cm x 40.6 cm)
Clay figures like this one are the only remains that we have today of a sophisticated and unique culture in West Mexico. They made no above-ground monuments or sculptures, at least that we know of, which is in strong contrast to developments elsewhere in ancient Mesoamerica. Instead, their tombs were their lasting works of art: skeletons arrayed radially with their feet positioned inward, and clay offerings, like this one, placed alongside the walls facing inward, near the skulls.
Provenance: ex-private C. Webster collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, acquired before 2000
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#155994
- Condition: Head has been reattached with small area of restoration along the repair line; the same is true of the raised arm. Otherwise in excellent condition with great deposits on the surface.
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