Nayarit Pottery Seated Female Figure with Nose Rings and Patterned Skirt

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit. A hollow pottery figure of a seated woman, bare-chested, with her legs stretched out in front and her elbows bent so the hands meet at the center of her chest. Her small breasts are lightly modeled. The broad, flat face is dominated by a large, jutting nose hung with layered nose rings, and stacked, scalloped earrings frame it on both sides. A thick rolled headband circles the crown. She also wears armbands and a necklace. A wrapped skirt, painted with zigzag or striated lines, flares over her hips and thighs, and the warm red slip of the body contrasts with the paler, gray-toned head. The figure is about how this woman looked: her jewelry and dress showed her rank, and the piece was likely made as a tomb offering. Figures like this come from the shaft tomb tradition of ancient West Mexico. In present-day Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima, people dug deep vertical shafts that opened into chambers where the dead were buried with ceramic offerings. Nayarit potters made lively, somewhat stylized people, often dressed up in stacked ear and nose ornaments, painted textiles, and headgear. Many scholars read these as portraits of social roles, such as a high-ranking woman, a ruler, or a warrior, rather than as gods. Their hand-modeled liveliness has made them some of the best-known works of ancient Mesoamerican ceramic sculpture. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 205792

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