Pre-Columbian, Western Mexico, Jalisco, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A wonderful pottery example of a male San Sebastian warrior figure. The statue is seated, with bent legs and delineated genitalia, his portly abdomen tracing upwards to a wide chest and rounded shoulders, one of which bears several raised discs indicative of ritual scarification. His left hand firmly grasps an olla intended for holding blood, and his right holds the handle of a formidable club which rests atop his shoulder. An elongated head boasts a visage comprised of almond eyes, a prominent nose, parted lips, broad ears with several earrings each, and a tall brow, all capped with a simple pinched cap. Black scarification marks are painted across his face and lips, with three lengthy bands extending down onto his chest. The club, neck line, and lower body are all colored with an umber slip atop a cream ground, making this an elegant example from ancient Western Mexico! Size: 9.5" W x 14.75" H (24.1 cm x 37.5 cm).

Clay figures like this example are the only remains that we have today of this sophisticated and unique culture in West Mexico. The indigenous made no above-ground monuments or sculptures, at least that we know of, which is in stark contrast to developments elsewhere in ancient Mesoamerica. Instead, they developed a widely-used method of burial known as shaft tombs.

The dead were buried down shafts - 3 to 20 meters deep - that were dug vertically or near vertically through “tepetate” - the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region. The base of the shaft would open into one or more horizontal chambers with a low ceiling. These shafts were almost always dug beneath a dwelling, probably a family home, and seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. Their tombs were their lasting works of art: skeletons arrayed radially with their feet positioned inward, and clay offerings, like this one, placed alongside the walls facing inward, near the skulls.

This is a figure made to be placed inside those mausoleums, perhaps to mediate between the worlds of the living and the dead. However, we unfortunately lack the information we would need to understand what these figures were truly made for. Do they represent everyday people, even individuals? Are they religious? Were they created to mediate between the living and the dead? Whatever their purpose, today they are beautiful artwork and reminders of the mysterious past.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private T. Misenhimer collection, Hollywood, California, USA, famous Hollywood film producer; ex-private Arizona, USA collection

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#133782

Figure repaired from multiple pieces with some restoration, overpainting, and resurfacing along break lines. Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, small chips and nicks to feet, base, body, head, and club, with some discoloration and fading to pigmentation. Nice earthen and mineral deposits throughout with root marks along base.