Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast of Mexico, Vera Cruz culture, ca. 500 to 700 CE. A large terracotta head with wide, bulging eyes, a thin, pointed nose, and a wide open mouth with jutting lower lip. The face wears a rounded helmet with thin straps descending down the sides of the face, in front of the ears, as if to secure it under the chin. The helmet has a brim and a trapezoidal, pyramid-like point at its peak, with an applied strip with a groove down it over the center of the pyramid. Size: 5.75" W x 7.5" H (14.6 cm x 19 cm); 9.5" H (24.1 cm) on included custom stand.

Excavations near the modern Mexican town of Remojadas have revealed two types of impressive, detailed pottery figures from the Veracruz period: the Sonrientes, the joyous "smiling faces", and figures like this one, more serious, mostly adult figures, with elaborate costumes, themes, and sometimes props that all seem to point towards religious or political ceremonies. These figures are often found with the bodies smashed into pieces and the heads largely intact - they were ritually destroyed as burial offerings. Their clothing suggests that they depict people of import in society, maybe priests or nobility.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#131325

Although the head has been separated from its body, the head is intact, with fine remaining details. The straps may be partially lost but it is difficult to tell if they were ever present (there is no clear break line).