Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A fabulous handmade pottery figure of a seated female exhibiting a square body, stubby arms projecting from broad shoulders, a slightly convex stomach, and widely-spaced, pointed breasts. Supported by a thick neck, her enormous, ovoid head presents a pair of heavy-lidded, almond-shaped eyes, an elongated forehead, a sharp nose, and a gently opened mouth bearing top and bottom rows of incised teeth. A black headband tops her stylized visage, just above two curved ears, which each feature a central drill hole. Dressed in a short, black skirt, she is further adorned by raised, dotted shoulder pellets, characteristic of Jalisco pottery figures, which scholars have interpreted variously as armor or ritual scarification. Boasting a lustrous burnish, the intriguing figure is embellished in a vivid coat of orange-red glaze with a creamy beige pigment covering her head and shoulder pellets. Her expressive visage also exhibits black details, likely representing face paint, such as a band across her eyes that forms a point on her brow and black lips with a vertical striation that drops down her chin. Size: 11.75" W x 15.5" H (29.8 cm x 39.4 cm)

Ancient West Mexico was home to a highly sophisticated culture that constructed earth mounds, ritual circles, and shaft tombs; most of what we know of them archaeologically comes from the figures like this one, that were buried in their shaft tombs. However, there are clear differences between the Jalisco and other traditions (Colima and Nayarit) of shaft tomb builders, and today we do not believe that they were a single unified culture, despite their shared architectural traditions. Jalisco pieces like this one are distinguished by seated positions for their female figures as well as their large size. These figures would have been positioned facing outward from the walls of graves, as if in conversation with the deceased.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private T. Misenhimer collection, Beverly Hills, California, USA, acquired from 1970 to 2008

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#162992

Repairs to legs, arms, nose, and top of head with restoration over break lines. Some light scratches and abrasions commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with remarkable pigments