**Originally Listed At $350**

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. An amusing pair of ceramic female figures, each presenting a characteristic Jalisco "sheepface" and holding what appears to be a drum in her lap. Painted in a deep, earthy red pigment, with additional creamy white giving details of ornament and dress, both are elaborately dressed in sizeable headdresses and annular earspools. Their elongated heads each display round eyes, a pinched nose, and open mouths as though mid-chant, as the skirted figure sits with her legs folded and the other is posed with her legs crossed. These figures are from the West Mexican shaft tomb tradition and were made to be placed in tombs, where they lined the walls of the tomb while the deceased rested in the center. Size of larger (similar in size): 5.2" W x 9.7" H (13.2 cm x 24.6 cm)

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Artemis Gallery, Louisville, Colorado, USA, October 15th, 2020, lot 55; ex-private Stagecoach, Nevada, USA collection; acquired from 1985 to present from galleries such as Arte Primitivo, Art For Eternity, Butterfields, and Riverbend Gallery

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#172339

Larger figure has chipping to ears, upper lip, and nose, as well as abrasions and nicks to surface. More petite figure has chipping to headdress. Otherwise, both are intact and excellent with impressive remaining pigments and nice mineral deposits.