Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast Mexico, Veracruz (Vera Cruz) culture, ca. 600 to 900 CE. A wonderful group of 2 hand-built pottery artifacts from the ancient Veracruz culture. First is a seated hollow coyote figure who wears a weighted collar around his neck, holds his expressive head high while bearing rows of fangs, and has smooth, black, bituminous pigment - known as chapapote - decorating his nose, mouth, eyes, collar, and areas of the body and upturned tail. The larger item is a pottery bust of a woman wearing the upper part of a coyote's head as a headdress. She presents with hunches shoulders, petite breasts, and large armlets studded with medallions on her biceps. The headdress shows the closed eyes of the coyote along with a brim lined with teeth. Additional chapapote pigment adorns her face, eyes, brows, and helmet. The coyote was a sacred figure that was oftentimes associated with trickster qualities. Size (bust): 6.6" W x 8.8" H (16.8 cm x 22.4 cm); 9.75" H (24.8 cm) on included custom stand; (coyote figure): 6.375" L x 3.25" W x 7" H (16.2 cm x 8.3 cm x 17.8 cm)

Provenance: private Hidden Valley Lake, California, USA collection; (bust): purchased on April 25, 2019; ex-Artemis Gallery; ex-private southern California, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s to mid-1980s; (coyote figure): purchased on January 24, 2021; ex-Leonard Auction, Inc., Addison, Illinois, USA

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Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.

#170467

Bust is repaired and restored with overpainting, and coyote figure is repaired. Both pieces have nice earthen deposits and remains of bituminous pigment.