Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, Ameca Grey Type, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A hand-built and highly-burnished pottery female figure depicted in a kneeling position, nude save for her simple headdress and knee-length skirt. She possess a characteristically-enlarged and elongated head with a somewhat somber visage composed of large, almond-shaped eyes with recessed pupils, a prominent aquiline nose, bar-shaped ears with circular earspools, an open mouth with delineated teeth behind full lips, and nicely-contoured cheek lines. She leans forward with a bent posture, her pendulous breasts hanging and spinal discs protruding out from her back, with her left hand placed behind her head and her right arm extended outward. Covered in cream-hued slip with areas of fire-darkening, this is a wonderful example of fine shaft-tomb workmanship! Size: 8.5" W x 13.125" H (21.6 cm x 33.3 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.
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private lifetime collection of Dr. Saul Tuttman and Dr. Gregory Siskind, New York, New York, USA
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#139434
Condition
Figure repaired from multiple large pieces with some areas of restoration, resurfacing, and overpainting along break lines. Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, small losses to one ear and some fingertips, fading to some areas of cream coloration, scattered areas of fire-darkening, and some stable hairline fissures. Nice earthen deposits and great manganese blooms throughout. Old inventory label beneath base.