Jalisco Ameca-Etzatlan Pottery Seated Female Figure

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Ancient | Asian | Ethnographic - Fall Variety...

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 13, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-09-13 10:00:00 2018-09-13 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient | Asian | Ethnographic - Fall Variety https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-asian-ethnographic---fall-variety-3432
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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, Ameca-Etzatlan style, Protoclassic period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. An exceptional hollow-built and highly-burnished polychrome pottery figure depicted resting upon bent legs with a knee-length skirt covering her thighs. She sits in an upright pose with outstretched arms flanking her wide torso and globular breasts, and her shoulders are studded with dozens of round cicatrices (ritual scarification marks). Her oversized head boasts an expressive visage characterized by almond eyes with raised pupils, a prominent nose, full lips surrounding bared teeth, large ears adorned with intricate earspools, and a well-sculpted chin, all beneath a tall brow and an elaborate headdress wrapped with a studded strap. Her face is embellished with delineated areas of red and cream slip as is the rest of her body, giving this figure a distinctive appearance evocative of ancient western Mexico! Size: 11.125" W x 14.5" H (28.3 cm x 36.8 cm).
  
  West Mexican shaft tomb figures like this example derive their names from the central architectural feature that we know of from this culture. Jalisco, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was part of the shaft tomb culture during this time, along with neighbors in nearby Colima and Nayarit. These people would build generally rectangular vertical or near-vertical shafts down from the ground level - usually about 3 to 20 meters deep - through tepetate, the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region, to narrow horizontal tunnels that led to one or more vaulted or rounded burial chambers.
  
  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. Figures like this one were placed into the tombs; researchers believe that they were placed around the edges facing inward, as if in conversation with the dead. Grouped with other figures, and alongside clay bowls, and boxes, figures like this one were positioned around the body (or bodies), near the skull.
  
  Unfortunately, we lack the necessary information to fully understand what these figures were made for - Did they represent everyday people, even individuals? Were they religious? Were they created to mediate between the living and the dead? Whatever their purpose, today they are beautiful artwork and reminders of the mysterious past.
  
  For a similar example, please see the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number M.86.296.76: https://collections.lacma.org/node/253625
  
  Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Art for Eternity, New York, New York, USA; ex-private lifetime collection of Dr. Saul Tuttman and Dr. Gregory Siskind, New York, New York, USA
  
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  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #135419

  Condition

  Figure repaired from multiple large pieces with some chips, resurfacing, overpainting, and light adhesive residue along break lines. Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, small losses to fingers, ears, nose, and headdress, with fading to some areas of pigmentation, and light roughness across most surfaces. Nice earthen and mineral deposits throughout. Nice craquelure to pigmentation in some areas. Old inventory number written in black ink beneath base.
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