Pre-Columbian, Ecuador, Chorrera culture, ca. 9th to 4th century BCE. A remarkable pottery figure of a hermaphrodite displaying raised breasts and delineated male genitalia, and elaborately adorned with incised decoration as well as burnt sienna and beige slip. Standing upright, the figure presents a thick yet flattened body as they hold their arms to their sides and face forward. The head rests on square shoulders, exhibiting closed eyes, a triangular nose, and a petite smile, all flanked by elongated ears and crowned by a bulbous turban perhaps intended as a cranial deformation. Size: 4.4" W x 9.3" H (11.2 cm x 23.6 cm); 10.3" H (26.2 cm) on included custom stand.

Note the miniature size of the facial features, save for the huge, closed eyes with heavy eyelids, as well as the rounded triangular shape of the head. According to Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, "Manipulation of head shapes was common throughout Mesoamerica and South America in pre-Columbian times. Human head shapes can be deformed or changed in infancy, since the skull is relatively soft. Common pre-Columbian head shapes were produced by tightly circling the baby's head with cloths (to produce an annular or tall rounded shape), or by tying boards or other hard objects to the back of the head and/or the forehead (to produce a broad, flat shape). Differences in head shape served to mark geographic origins or group affiliation. In the Andes today, hats are used in a similar way, with each community having characteristic headgear distinct from those worn in neighboring areas."

Cf. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, 2006.070.020.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, before 2010; ex Hirsch collection, Germany, collected from the 1950s-1970s

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#173474

Professionally repaired with restoration over break lines and some areas of repainting. A few minor nicks and areas of fire-darkening. Otherwise, very nice with great remaining detail.