Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A hand-built and highly burnished brownware pottery mask of tall, tapered form with a concave verso. The convex face presents with a pair of pecked eyes beneath gently furrowed brows, a tall and slender nose with flared nostrils, a broad mouth, and tall, tab-shaped ears with perforated lobes that perhaps once bore additional ornamentation. The lack of eye holes indicates this mask was intended to adorn a deceased individual. The Colima culture, part of the West Mexican shaft tomb tradition, is known today almost exclusively for its small clay figures that were placed inside of deep shaft tombs. In very rare instances, masks like this were also placed inside of tombs -- interpreted by archaeologists as belonging to elites. These special objects were made of materials that had often been traded over long distances. Size: 7.375" W x 8.625" H (18.7 cm x 21.9 cm)

Provenance: ex-Marc Amiguet Schmitt estate, Amiguet's Ancient Art, Evansville, Indiana, USA, acquired prior to January 1, 2010

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#174920

Repair along left corner of chin, with infill, resurfacing, and overpainting along break lines. Abrasions and minor nicks commensurate with age, with fading and areas of fire-darkening to brown pigment, and thick earthen deposits on verso. Nice preservation to overall form and facial features.