Lot 87A
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A marvelous and massive pottery figure depicted seated on a 2-legged stool in the recognizably somber attitude of a mourner. Enveloped in a vibrant red slip, the nude figure displays short legs that bend at the knee, petite feet, delineated genitalia, and a large, thick torso. Comparably, his arms are quite lengthy, slender, and tubular as they extend from his broad, square shoulders with his left hand resting on his thigh and his right raised to his mouth. A physical manifestation of the harrowing pain of grief, he hunches forward, his solemn visage displaying squinting, slit-form eyes, a sharp nose with delineated nostrils, and bulbous cheeks as though puffed out in a sorrowful moan. A pair of ears flank his face - each displaying a trio of hoop adornments, as a helmet-like headdress with a protruding brim and a central crest crowns his flared brow. Size: 10.2" W x 18.4" H (25.9 cm x 46.7 cm)
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.
Cf. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1978.412.8.
Provenance: private Lumberton, Texas, USA collection; ex-Heritage Auctions, auction 5165, lot #50409, November 15th, 2013
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#170005
- Condition: Repaired from several pieces with restoration over break lines. Break line and adhesive visible on 1 stool leg. Some restoration to hands. Expected nicks, pitting, peeling, and abrasions, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with light mineral deposits.
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