Rare Colima Black-Slipped Sitting Dog Effigy

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 13, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-02-13 10:00:00 2020-02-13 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-4848
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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A hollow, hand-built ceramic effigy vessel depicting an endearing canine, among the most famous type of West Mexican shaft tomb culture artifacts. The dog sits with raised front legs, one rear leg folded beneath and the other bent, his curled tail wagging behind, and his spinal column rendered with notches all along a curved ridge. His loyal countenance boasts incised coffee bean shaped eyes, a protruding snout with delineated nostrils, a slit-form mouth displaying a subtle smile, and perky ears - one of which has a perforation before it to serve as the spout. The highly-burnished exterior is covered with black slip and manganese deposits! Size: 8.375" L x 6.25" W x 9" H (21.3 cm x 15.9 cm x 22.9 cm)
  
  Scholars know of at least two types of Colima dogs, one to be fattened up and ritually sacrificed or eaten and one to serve as a watchdog and healer of the ill. This plump hairless canine known as a Chichi or Escuintla is thought to be related to the Chihuahua or Mexican Hairless also known as the Xoloitzcuintle. The Xolo dog was named for the deity Xolotl, the God of the Underworld, and believed to guide the deceased as they journeyed to the afterlife. Colima vessels such as this one were buried in shaft tombs to protect the deceased and provide sustenance for eternity.
  
  See a similar puppy, though a bit plumper, at the Walters Art Museum (2009.20.51). The curatorial team has relayed the following narrative to provide further understanding of the Colima dog's role in transporting the deceased to the Underworld, "Among many peoples of ancient Mexico, there were myths that a red or yellow dog was the companion that would help a deceased person across a river they needed to cross in the Underworld. It was said that a white dog would not want to dirty itself, and a black dog had already made the trip and was tired. Therefore, it was important to be kind to these reddish dogs in life, and to seek them out in the Underworld. Perhaps for this reason, hundreds of ceramic figures of red dogs have been found in tombs and homes of ancient West Mexico."
  
  Provenance: ex-private southern California, USA collection, aquired from Osuna Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA in early 1980's
  
  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.
  
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  #150184

  Condition

  Intact. Expected surface wear with scuffs and minor abraded areas to body and peripheries commensurate with age. Covered with liberal manganese deposits, burnishing and root marks.
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