Description:

**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A nicely detailed flat figure of a man, naked aside from a necklace, earrings, and what is either an impressive mohawk or a crested hat. The figure has a prominent erection, sometimes an indicator in Mesoamerican art that they are engaging in drug use for shamanistic purposes. Comes with custom stand. Size: 3.25" W x 6.95" H (8.3 cm x 17.7 cm)

Colima, 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 Nayarit. 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 seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. This is a figure made to be placed inside those mausoleums, perhaps to mediate between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Provenance: Ex-Triffo Collection, acquired in the 1970s

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#119646

  • Condition: Intact aside from very small chip to back of one arm.

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March 27, 2017 10:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,000
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $25,000