Unusual Veracruz Pottery Standing Figure Whistle

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Pre-Columbian | Tribal | Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Apr 25, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-04-25 10:00:00 2019-04-25 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Pre-Columbian | Tribal | Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/pre-columbian-tribal-ethnographic-4035
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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Veracruz culture, also known as Totonac (Totonaca), Remojadas, ca. 300 to 600 CE. A fascinating figure of a woman, probably a shaman but possibly a deity, who wears a huge, stylized headdress, massive earrings, and a multi-stranded necklace. She wears a skirt that hangs all the way to the floor, its belt a large knot on the front. The same knot form repeats on the top and back of the headdress. Two long straps hang down from either side of the top knot, reaching to the slightly bent elbows. The hands are facing outward, the palms spread, while the legs are straight and slightly spread. Fascinatingly, on the face, below a heavy nose ornament, is a projecting mask that gives the impression of being the snout and upper jaw of a jaguar. A whistle opening projects from the back of the figure, allowing it to be played. Size: 7.25" W x 11.7" H (18.4 cm x 29.7 cm)
  
  The sophisticated skills used by the artist to construct this piece demonstrate how advanced ceramic technology was in this culture. The arms, head, and legs, all hollow, were made separately and fitted onto the torso, with the joints smoothed over to disguise them. The ornament was also constructed separately, then pressed onto the surface of the body. The piece was fired all together after the clay had dried for a brief period. Imagine the workshop where this item was made - full of disembodied limbs and heads in the process of being sculpted into shape. Who did this figure represent? 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, with elaborate costumes, themes, and sometimes props that all seem to point towards religious or political ceremonies. These figures are often found with the bodies smashed into pieces and the heads largely intact - they were ritually destroyed as burial offerings. Their clothing suggests that they depict people of import in society, maybe priests or nobility.
  
  Provenance: the late John Rich collection, California, USA. John Rich was a notable Hollywood producer/director.
  
  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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  #145720

  Condition

  Repaired from multiple pieces, notably on the arms and lower part of the skirt. Repairs are well done and difficult to see. Tiny chips and nicks, many from around the head, are present and commensurate with age. Nice deposits on surface and beautifully preserved detail of ornament.
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