Lot 119C
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, Ixtlan del Rio, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. This is a beautiful, large example of one of the expressive shaft tomb hollow pottery figures that were placed around the perimeter of graves sunk several feet below households. Size: 10.5" W x 23.25" H (26.7 cm x 59.1 cm)
Depicted is a male warrior, holding a club in front with both hands. His upper body is protected by a barrel-shaped armour, which is decorated with incised lines in an intricate geometric pattern. The same pattern is visible on his double-crested helmet. Around his neck is a double stranded necklace and he wears large earrings. He stands at the ready. Clay figures like this one are the only remains that we have today of a sophisticated and unique culture in West Mexico -- they made no above-ground monuments or sculptures, at least that we know of, which is in strong contrast to developments elsewhere in ancient Mesoamerica. Instead, 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. A large effigy like this one would most likely have flanked the entrance to a tomb in a way that archaeologists have interpreted as guarding. Some scholars have connected these dynamic sculptures of the living as a strong contrast to the skeletal remains whose space they shared, as if they mediated between the living and the dead.
Provenance: Ex-Private New York Collection
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#119541
- Condition: Both arms and neck have been repaired; loss to one half of crest at top of head.
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