Jalisco Sheepface Seated Female Figure with Dotted Sash

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, Ameca Etzatlan style. A seated female figure in red-slipped earthenware, modeled in the "sheepface" manner, with a long, sloping nose, heavy-lidded eyes, and a narrow, gently smiling mouth. She sits on the ground with her left knee drawn up and her right leg folded beneath it, both hands resting on her knees. The left hand grips a curved object, perhaps a club, implement, or other tool. Small raised breasts and a pronounced navel mark the torso. Across the body falls a sash or bag strap from one shoulder, picked out in a dense field of white pigment dots. Large disk earspools frame the face, and a tall banded headdress with an arched loop crowns the elongated head. Figures of this kind were likely placed in shaft tomb burials as companions or emblems of social role. The "sheepface" label is a collector's nickname for the Ameca Etzatlan style of Jalisco, named for the valleys west of modern Guadalajara where the type is concentrated. Its hallmarks are an elongated, tapering head and a long, ovine nose, a strong stylization that sets it apart from the rounder Colima and Nayarit idioms of the same shaft tomb tradition. West Mexican shaft tombs were chambers cut deep into volcanic tuff and reached by vertical shafts, used for multiple burials over generations. Ceramic figures, often in pairs or groups, were placed beside the dead. Their emphasis on dress, ornament, and the objects they hold suggests they marked rank, role, or lineage rather than illustrating deities. Item # 205650

Estimate:$400

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