Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. An enormous, hollow-built redware figural vessel depicting a shamanic man standing upon outspread ovoid feet. His rotund body has a uniform appearance which traces up to a stocky neck, with his left arm held to his side and holding a simple pipe in his right. Coffee-bean-shaped eyes are set high on the gently-curving face, and his tab-shaped chin juts out beneath tightly-pursed lips which appear to be exhaling smoke into the air. The ears and nose are pierced and tab-shaped, suggesting that the figure was at one time adorned with additional ornamentation. A small horn protrudes from the cylindrical helmet which doubles as the vessel's spout. An excellent example of ancient shaft-tomb pottery enveloped in a deep vermilion slip. Size: 9.375" W x 19.375" H (23.8 cm x 49.2 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. A figural vessel like this example was created to be filled with offerings to the deceased and placed inside those mausoleums, perhaps to mediate between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Provenance: private Southern California, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s to mid-1980s
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#141537
Condition
Head, right arm and hand, right leg, and part of spout reattached with restoration, resurfacing, overpainting, and light adhesive residue along break lines. Small nicks to feet, body, arms, and head, with fading and abrasions to original coloration. Nice earthen and manganese deposits.