Lot 119C
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. An impressive figural vessel depicting a highly decorated dancer/shaman wearing a tall feather headdress tied beneath his chin, a thin flute held to his lower lip. The dancer wears a highly decorated outfit adorned with repeating triangular designs both above his waist and down his sturdy legs. A small spout emerges from the back of the right shoulder. Size: 6" W x 13" H (15.2 cm x 33 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 scholars posit that they were 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.
This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full report will accompany purchase.
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Roy Oswald Gallery collection, Arizona, USA 1960 to 2004
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#161495
- Condition: TL holes under right foot and under back of head piece. Professionally repaired from half a dozen pieces, small area of flute resurfaced, else quite a fine example.
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