Lot 93B
**Originally Listed At $1800**
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. An expressive and sizable bi-chrome pottery warrior figure of a hollow form and exhibiting highly burnished surfaces adorned with vibrant red-orange and creamy beige pigments. Wearing a piece of vertically striped barrel armor around his torso, the bulky figure sits nude from the waist down with bent legs atop an integral, two-legged stool. Both stubbed arms project out before him, displaying delineated hands grasping a formidable club, as three collar necklaces lay above his armor. The ancient figure's tall countenance presents slit-form eyes above a prominent nose with incised nostrils, an open mouth, and ears bedecked with multiple earrings, all topped by a bicorn helmet incised with a dense lattice-patterned motif. Size: 6.25" W x 17" H (15.9 cm x 43.2 cm)
Ceramic 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: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Baker collection, Tucson, Arizona USA 1960 to 2000
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#162991
- Condition: Repaired from several pieces with restoration over break lines. Proper right horn on headdress restored from new material. Light nicks and chips and abrasions in some areas, commensurate with age. Otherwise, very nice with lovely earthen and mineral deposits throughout.
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| From: | To: | Increments: |
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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 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | $99,999 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $199,999 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 + | $20,000 |