Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A finely-preserved, hollow-built redware pottery vessel depicting an anthropomorphic figure seated with bent legs and a wide posterior. The figure leans forward with hands held to bulbous knees and has several pellets atop the shoulders indicative of ritual scarification or ceremonial ornamentation. A large storage jar serves as the spout for the vessel and is supported on the verso with a tump line wrapped around the figure's padded forehead. Coffee-bean-shaped eyes, a wide nose, petite ears adorned with perforated ear spools, and a slanted mouth comprise the minimalist visage. The highly-burnished exterior is colored with a deep vermilion slip and imbues it with a presentation characteristic of ancient West Mexico. Size: 5.5" W x 7.7" H (14 cm x 19.6 cm).
Colima, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was during this time part of the shaft tomb culture, along with neighbors to the north in Jalisco and Nayarit. In this culture, the dead were buried down shafts - 3 to 20 meters deep - that were dug vertically or near vertically through the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region. The base of the shaft would open into one or more horizontal chambers with a low ceiling. 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. This is a figure made to be placed inside those mausoleums, perhaps to mediate between the worlds of the living and the dead.
For a stylistically-similar example, please see: Kan, Michael, Clement Meighan, and H. B. Nicholson. "Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico: Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima | A Catalogue of the Proctor Stafford Collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989, p. 130, fig. 109.
Provenance: private Pennsylvania, USA collection
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#144755
Condition
Professionally repaired from multiple large pieces, with restoration to some areas, and resurfacing and overpainting along break lines. Small abrasions to head, body, and base, with fading to original pigmentation, and light encrustations within some recessed areas. Nice earthen deposits and manganese blooms throughout.