Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast Mexico, Veracruz (Vera Cruz), ca. 3rd to 7th century CE. A wonderful hollow-built pottery male figure seated with crossed legs and wearing a small loincloth, his rigid posture emphasized by broad shoulders and stocky arms, and his neck decorated with applied necklaces boasting a number of large stones, his ears with carved jade ear flares. On his head he wears a tight-fitting cap with raised decoration at the front and featherlike appendages to each side. His straight hair is cut straight across his forehead. His eyes, necklace, hair and parts of his headdress are colored with black bitumen. Size: 10" W x 18.25" H (25.4 cm x 46.4 cm) Size: 10" W x 18.25" H (25.4 cm x 46.4 cm)
Excavations near the modern Mexican town of Remojadas have revealed two types of impressive, detailed pottery figures from the Veracruz period: the Sonrientes, the joyous "smiling faces," and figures like this one, more serious, mostly adult figures, sometimes with elaborate costumes, themes, and props that all seem to point towards religious or political ceremonies. These figures are often found with the bodies broken into pieces though with the heads largely intact, as they were ritually destroyed as burial offerings. Their clothing suggests that they depict people of import in society, perhaps priests or nobility.
This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full printed and bound report is available to the buyer upon request.
Provenance: private Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA collection, acquired in 2012; ex-Cichon Tribal Arts, Sarasota, Florida, USA; ex-Gregory estate, New York City, New York, USA, 1970s - 1980s
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#192390
Condition
Like almost all large Veracruz figures, this example has been broken and repaired from numerous pieces, some restoration skillfully hides and losses.