Large & Fine Colima Redware Seated Shaman

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Exceptional Day 2: Pre-Columbian & Tribal Art...

By Artemis Gallery

Oct 3, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-10-03 10:00:00 2019-10-03 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Day 2: Pre-Columbian & Tribal Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-day-2-pre-columbian-tribal-art-4453
Day 2 of an important 2-day auction featuring exceptional, museum-worthy examples of Pre-Columbian from the ancient Americas, Native American, African / Tribal, Oceanic, Spanish Colonial and fossils. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, Protoclassic period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A beautiful hand-built redware pottery statue representing a seated shaman, his posture indicative of meditative contemplation. His highly burnished body exhibits gently bent, outstretched legs, elongated arms, and hands that rest upon his knees. A classic shaman's horn on his forehead is secured by an incised strap, the back of his head serving as the spout, and his broad neck, shoulders, and chest are adorned with a splayed, five-petal collar. He wears a thatched waist band featuring dozens of four-line boxes. The visage exhibits almond-shaped eyes, puffy lips, perforated ears which perhaps held additional ornamentation, and a tall forehead. Enveloped in red and brown slip, this is a fantastic example of figurative Colima art! Size: 9.625" W x 15.9" H (24.4 cm x 40.4 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.
  
  For a stylistically similar example of a seated shaman figure with outstretched arms and holding a small bowl, please see: Kan, Michael, Clement Meighan, and H.B. Nicholson. "Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico: Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima | A Catalogue of the Proctor Stafford Collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989, p. 135, fig. 119.
  
  A stylistically similar example hammered for $11,400 at Christie's, New York "Pre-Columbian Art" auction (sale 1837, May 23, 2007, lot 74).
  
  Another stylistically similar example, of a slightly larger size, hammered for $19,200 at Sotheby's, New York "African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art" auction (May 17, 2007, lot 209).
  
  Provenance: ex-private southern California, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #150186

  Condition

  Repairs to left arm, right arm and leg, and head, with resurfacing and overpainting along break lines. Minor abrasions to limbs, body, and head, with light overpainting to some red-hued areas, softening to some finer details, and light encrustations within some recessed areas. Light earthen deposits and great traces of original pigment throughout.
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