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THBOlmec Pottery Standing Figure w/ Hand to Mouth Gesture
Lot 167
About Seller
Artemis Gallery
686 S Taylor Ave, Ste 106
Louisville, CO 80027
United States
Selling antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art online since 1993, Artemis Gallery specializes in Classical Antiquities (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern), Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanographic art. Our extensive inventory includes pottery, stone, metal, wood, glass and textil...Read more
Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Estimate:
$1,000 - $1,500
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| $0 | $25 |
| $300 | $50 |
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| $2,000 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 | $20,000 |
About Auction
Live
By Artemis Gallery
Jun 20, 2019
Set Reminder
2019-06-20 10:00:00
2019-06-20 10:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : Ancient / Ethnographic From Around the World
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-from-around-the-world-4217
Around the world & back in time - be amazed at the treasures you will find. Antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Italy and the Near East, Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanic, Native American, Spanish Colonial, Russian Icons, Fine Art, much more! All categories, all price ranges.. all legal Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
Around the world & back in time - be amazed at the treasures you will find. Antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Italy and the Near East, Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanic, Native American, Spanish Colonial, Russian Icons, Fine Art, much more! All categories, all price ranges.. all legal Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
View Full Catalog (447)
- Lot Description
Pre-Columbian, south-central Mexico and Guatemala, Olmec culture, ca. 12th to 9th century BCE. This standing Olmec baby holding a hand to his mouth was skillfully hand built in the ancient Mesoamerican tradition. As is characteristic, this hollow terracotta Olmec Baby is strangely mature (though the sex is difficult to determine) and wonderfully expressive. The characteristic babyface visage presents jowly cheeks, thickly-lidded slanted eyes, an open mouth with a slightly downturned were-jaguar upper lip, and an oversized head donning a cap-like coiffure or headdress with a central shell-shaped ornament or lobed section. The head itself is somewhat elongated; scholars have proposed that misshapen heads are indicative of the artificial cranial deformation practiced by the Olmec peoples. His paunchy body presents a pronounced belly button. Nice remains of a cream-hued kaolin and red-hued slip further adorn the piece. Size: 4.875" H (12.4 cm); 5.75" H (14.6 cm) on included custom stand.
The curatorial team at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has this to say about the meaning of Olmec Baby Figurines, "What the babies signify is unclear. They may be representatives of elite lineages or early Mexican deities, or both. Infantile figures appear as sacrificial victims throughout Olmec art, and in some cases the ceramic effigies may have served as substitutes for actual infants. Iconographic and stylistic associations exist between the baby figures and monumental stone sculpture at the Olmec sites of San Lorenzo and La Venta, where the acidic soils of the Gulf Coast have destroyed all but fragments of any similar ceramic sculptures." (https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1979.206.1134/)
Provenance: private Southern California, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s to mid-1980s
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.
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#147053Normal surface wear with slight pigment loss as shown, though much remains. Nice scattered mineral deposits. Figure is attached to stand with an adhesive.Condition
- Shipping Info
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