Lot 176B
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. An endearing hand-built terracotta flat depicting a figure donning an elaborate headdress/coiffure, incised loin cloth, and scarification and/or tattoo marks on his right shoulder and abdominal area holding a puppy in the crook of his left arm. His face is nicely delineated with coffee bean shaped eyes, a protruding nose, and pursed perhaps whistling lips. A wonderful example that captures the longstanding bond between man and his beloved canine. Custom stand. Size: 6.125" H (15.6 cm); 6.5" H (16.5 cm) on included custom stand.
The Colima Dog is one of the most enduring and famous symbols of pre-Columbian art. Sculptural vessels depicting these dogs have been found in the shaft tombs of West Mexico, where dogs were believed to assist the dead in their journey to the underworld. Although these dogs are often portrayed as fattened up for the table, they are also sculpted into a variety of playful positions, suggesting that dogs were also a close human companion in Colima culture the way they are today for us. This close relationship is reflected in the cosmology of Pre-Columbian Mexican peoples, where one story tells that the first man survived a great flood because of his friend, a dog, who helped him find both corn to eat and fire to survive.
Provenance: private California, USA collection acquired over fifteen years ago
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#125515
- Condition: Old tiny nicks to tip of right foot and hand. Nice areas of manganese deposits have evolved over the course of history.
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