**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A finely modeled and decorated earthenware sculpture depicting a woman, standing proudly upon her legs (with integral extensions behind for additional support) and presenting a characteristically wide torso, her hands resting on her abdomen below her perky breasts; these along with delineated genitalia emphasize her fertility. Her face is quite expressive with striking, bold details including coffee bean shaped eyes, a pronounced curved nose, and a slit mouth. This striking visage is crowned by an incised caplike coiffure. The artist used negative resist to adorn the figure with an elaborate beaded necklace - multiple strands around her neck and falling down her chest - arm bands, and a lower garment that quixotically still manages to reveal her genitalia. Size: 4.75" W x 9.125" H (12.1 cm x 23.2 cm)

Nayarit, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was during this time part of the shaft tomb culture, along with neighbors to the north in Jalisco and Colima. In this culture, the dead were buried down shafts - 3 to 20 meters deep - that were dug vertically or near vertically through 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 were likely used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. This figure was created to be placed inside those mausoleums, perhaps to mediate between the worlds of the living and the deceased.

Provenance: ex-Howard Rose Gallery, New York, New York, USA; ex-private Long Island, New York, USA collection belonging to a dentist, acquired 1960s

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#150117

Repaired from several pieces with restoration over the break lines. Restoration to nose. Nicks to periphery of the opening atop the head. Normal surface wear commensurate with age but details are still vivid. Covered with manganese deposits.