Nayarit Pottery Semi-Nude Standing Woman Holding a Bowl

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit. A hollow pottery figure of a semi-nude woman, standing on short, splayed legs with carefully toed feet and holding a small bowl before her with both hands. Her bare torso has small breasts with prominent nipples. Below the waist she wears a wrap skirt painted with fine cream geometric bands and lattice. A collar-like necklace circles her throat, clusters of rings hang from her ears, and a ring pierces her nose. A thick twisted headband crowns her head. Her face is broad and alert, with arched brows over large, heavy-lidded almond eyes, a long, prominent nose, and an open mouth that shows delineated teeth. The bowl still holds traces of warm orange slip. It may represent an offering or a serving of food or drink, a theme common in West Mexican tomb figures. Figures like this come from the shaft tomb tradition of West Mexico. In what are now Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima, families were buried in chambers cut deep into volcanic bedrock and reached by vertical shafts. Ceramic figures, often in pairs or groups, were placed with the dead. Nayarit potters were especially interested in costume and personal ornament. Stacked ear rings, nose rings, painted textiles, and wrapped headdresses describe dress and status in their figures more than idealized beauty does. This gives these works an immediacy that sets them apart from the more stylized sculpture of other Mesoamerican traditions. Item # 205658

估價:$500

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