Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A hollow-built and highly burnished pottery figure of a sizable form depicting a priest or shaman standing atop delineated legs and covered in red-orange slip. The priestly man presents nude with a phallus hanging between his legs and wearing a discoid pectoral amulet atop his chest. He stands with a straight posture due in part to the enormous, serrated back panel and holds both arms up as if orating a prayer over those observing his gestures. His head is turned slightly to the left and exhibits almond-shaped eyes, a prominent nose above thin lips, tab-shaped ears, and a tapered hat with a protruding frontal brim. The top of the hat is cylindrical and doubles as the spout. Size: 9.375" W x 20.6" H (23.8 cm x 52.3 cm)
Colima, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was part of the shaft tomb culture during this period, 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.
Provenance: ex-dealer Richard Bellek collection, New York, New York, USA, listed in a 1965 inventory
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#155683
Condition
Repairs to left leg, both arms, back panel, and both feet, with small chips and light adhesive residue along break lines. Loss to back of left foot as shown. Abrasions and nicks to limbs, body, back panel, and head, with fading to areas of original pigment, and light encrustations. Nice remains of original pigment and manganese blooms throughout.