Nayarit Pottery Figure with Flared Headdress, Hand on Hip

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit. A hand-modeled pottery figure of a seated person with short legs extended forward. The head rises into a tall, flat-topped form that flares outward at the top. The face is abstract, with no features other than a projecting nose and a round nose ring, and ears with suggested ornaments are set at each side of the head. One arm is bent with the hand resting on the hip, leaving an open space at the side, while the other is raised with the hand held at the shoulder, the fingers marked by painted lines. The broad, flat body is finished in red slip. Dense black manganese deposits speckle the surface. West Mexican shaft tomb cultures, centered in present-day Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima, dug deep vertical shafts into volcanic bedrock that opened into chambers for multiple burials. Unlike the formal court art of Mesoamerica, the ceramic figures left in these tombs show people going about their lives: warriors, musicians, mothers, couples, and villagers in everyday clothes and jewelry. Nayarit modelers in particular liked exaggerated features, piled ear and nose ornaments, and expressive poses like this one. Item # 205671

Estimate:$350

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