Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast of Mexico, Western Yucatan Peninsula, Jaina/Campeche Islands, Maya, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A striking pottery figure kneeling atop both bent knees in a submissive pose. Supported by a protruding 'tail' the figure stares upwards with a pensive gaze, his fringed bangs flanked by massive ear flares, cheeks adorned with curvilinear cicatrices, and chin with a protruding triangular beard. An enormous circular medallion hangs between the fringe of his elaborate, shoulder-padded tunic and rectangular skirt. Resting atop the conical brow is a removable headdress bedecked in feathers as well as a petite, horn-headed human face, and the entire headdress exhibits vibrant areas of blue, white, and red pigment throughout. Size (figure w/ headdress): 3.625" L x 3" W x 7.625" H (9.2 cm x 7.6 cm x 19.4 cm); 8.625" H (21.9 cm) on included custom stand; (display case): 5.75" L x 5.75" W x 9.375" H (14.6 cm x 14.6 cm x 23.8 cm)
Jaina figures, from an island off the Yucatan peninsula, are noted for their lifelike faces and their immense attention to detail. Scholars believe that sculptors modeled these figures' clothing on real clothing worn by the elite during the Late Classic Maya period. These figures likely represented actual people, were produced in Campeche, and then were brought to Jaina Island to be buried with the deceased. Fascinatingly, the people around Jaina are the only people in southeastern Mesoamerica who put human figures into graves. Everywhere else in the region, figures have been found solely in domestic contexts. The Spaniard Diego de Landa, who recorded details of Maya life shortly after the Spanish Conquest, wrote that the artists who created pieces like this one lived lives of religious isolation and ritual - fasting and abstaining.
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1979.206.953.
Another example of shorter size hammered for EUR 20,000 ($21,403.50) at Christie's, Paris "Art Precolombien" auction (sale 18648, June 29, 2020, lot 22).
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Carol Meyer collection; ex-Sotheby's New York, Afican, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian Art, November 17, 2006, lot 374; ex-collection of Carol Meyer (1915-2006), New York, USA
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#182253
Condition
Headdress with restoration to upper crest point, some feathers, and the laterally-protruding upper flange on the proper right side. Figure with repair to proper right leg as well as restoration to areas of skirt, protruding 'tail', and upper left leg. All areas of repair/restoration with resurfacing and/or overpainting. Figure with losses to arms, areas of skirt, and proper left foot. Wonderful preservation to overall form of figure and headdress. Headdress is removable from atop head.