Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A fabulous hand-built pottery female figure seated upon folded legs. The highly burnished figure wears a knee-length skirt, while posing seductively with her left arm reaching behind her head and her right hand stretched out in an expressive manner as if telling an engaging story. A pair of globular breasts protrude from her chest, emphasizing her powerful feminine physique. Her enlarged head presents a stylized visage defined by a prominent aquiline nose and huge, round eyes, as well as full lips surrounding a row of integral, delineated teeth, tab-shaped ears with annular earspools, and a tall forehead crowned by an elaborate, crisscross headdress atop a shoulder-length coiffure or veil. Her body is enveloped in red-hued slip, while a shade of creamy beige adorns her head, skirt, and hands, imbuing her with a characteristic appearance of ancient Jalisco artistry! Size: 8.5" W x 10.5" H (21.6 cm x 26.7 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-Judith Meister collection, Highland Park, Illinois, USA, acquired between 1950s to 1994, and thence by descent
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#168074
Condition
Loss to middle finger of right hand. Restoration to nose. Repaired from several pieces with restoration. Otherwise, excellent with nice remaining pigments.