Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast of Mexico, Veracruz culture, ca. 500 to 700 CE. A fascinating buff ceramic figure shown standing in an animated, almost Nixonian posture - both hands raised, thumbs and palms facing outward, with the face jutting out at the chin. Two huge, round spool earrings extend outward from the face, each with an applied disc at the center. A huge headdress sits atop what appears to be a thick head of hair that is styled to hang onto the forehead. A necklace composed of five large beads, painted black using the distinctive petroleum-based pigment called chapopote of the Veracruz region. The figure wears matching bracelets, a large cape, and a skirt. Size: 7.7" W x 8.5" H (19.6 cm x 21.6 cm)
Excavations near the modern Mexican town of Remojadas have revealed two types of impressive, detailed pottery figures from the Veracruz period: the Sonrientes, the joyous "smiling faces", and figures like this one, more serious, mostly adult figures, with elaborate costumes, themes, and sometimes props that all seem to point towards religious or political ceremonies. These figures are often found with the bodies smashed into pieces and the heads largely intact - they were ritually destroyed as burial offerings. Their clothing suggests that they depict people of import in society, maybe priests or nobility.
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private collection of Dr. Saul Tuttman and Dr. Gregory Siskind, New York, New York, USA
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#136800
Condition
Remarkably intact, with nice deposits on surface.