Chupicuaro Terracotta Figure - CK.0765,Origin: Chupicuaro, Mexic,Circa: 500 BC to 200 BC,Dimensions: 4.25" (10.8cm) high x 2.125" (5.4cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Chupicuaro Terracotta Figure - CK.0765,Origin: Chupicuaro, Mexic,Circa: 500 BC to 200 BC,Dimensions: 4.25" (10.8cm) high x 2.125" (5.4cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Chupicuaro,Medium: Terracotta. The remains of a once vibrant culture are now submerged under a lake. Fortunately, excavations in the 1940's on the site were able to uncover sufficient artifacts to give us an intriguing picture of people who lived there centuries ago. Chupicuaro was the elaborate burial ground of a village above the Lerma River in the state of Guanajuato, eighty miles northwest of the Valley of Mexico. The abundant offerings of pottery, jade, and figurines discovered there attest to a flourishing artistic culture. One of the most endearing types of the clay objects is the small female figures, or 'pretty ladies'. They typically show a naked female with short arms, extended stomach and a fancy coiffure or headdress.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.0372,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 7.5" (19.1cm) high x 5" (12.7cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.0372,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 7.5" (19.1cm) high x 5" (12.7cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. Though her bold symmetry only makes a minimal concession to realism, this abstract woman glows with the energy of human life. Bare breasted, wearing jewelry, she was left long ago as a votive gift. Almost certainly, she represents the person who offered her before the Gods, a woman of ancient Mexico. Perhaps this is the only clue remaining to that forgotten human life, the embodiment of hopes and reams not so very different from those we might feel today. Just beneath the surface of the clay, we sense the heartbeat of a vanished world.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Man - PF.0632,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 5.125" (13.0cm) high x 2.375" (6.0cm) wideCollection:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Man - PF.0632,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 5.125" (13.0cm) high x 2.375" (6.0cm) wideCollection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. This nude male has a sweet expression and very long hair. Although he seems a gentle individual, one is reminded of tales of powerful heroes whose strength is tied to their unshorn locks. Perhaps this is some Mesoamerican Samson who has not yet met his Delilah.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Man - PF.0825,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 5" (12.7cm) high x 2.5" (6.4cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Man - PF.0825,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 5" (12.7cm) high x 2.5" (6.4cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. Slender and elegant, with a fashionable coiffure, this little figure represents a young aristocrat of ancient Mexico. Centuries ago, an individual perhaps not unlike this placed this clay image in a tomb to keep company with the deceased. All other clues to that ancient life have vanished, yet this charming effigy evokes a living human presence. Holding it in our hands, we communicate directly with the people who held it so long ago.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Seated Woman - PF.0951,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 13" (33.0cm) high x 8" (20.3cm) wide,Catalogue: V2,Collection:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Seated Woman - PF.0951,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 13" (33.0cm) high x 8" (20.3cm) wide,Catalogue: V2,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. With her bold lines and abstract geometry, this rare figure bears a strong resemblance to the Zacatecas style, for which pieces like this may have provided an artistic precedent. Enthroned in elegant majesty, like a Queen or Goddess acknowledging her subjects, she seems not at all surprised by the homage we pay to her regal charms.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Man - PF.1106,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 500 BC to 100 BC,Dimensions: 10" (25.4cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Man - PF.1106,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 500 BC to 100 BC,Dimensions: 10" (25.4cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. Although simply dressed, this delightful figure carries himself with artistocratic elegance. Centuries ago in ancient Mexico, he was perhaps offered by some young nobleman as a votive to the gods. Today he remains as a token of that vanished life, a symbol of passions, hopes and dreams not so very different from what any man might still feel in the modern world.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.1108,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 500 BC to 100 BC,Dimensions: 6.125" (15.6cm) high x 2.875" (7.3cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.1108,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 500 BC to 100 BC,Dimensions: 6.125" (15.6cm) high x 2.875" (7.3cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. There is something timeless and eternal about such figures, evocations of the quintessential female. Though this charming example reflects the style and tastes of ancient America, she might just as well have been formed in Egypt, or Mesopotamia, or Africa at some point centuries earlier or later. Simple in form, she is nonetheless complex in intent, a figure of lasting beauty and mystery.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.1224,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,,Circa: 800 BC to 500 BC,Dimensions: 4.75" (12.1cm) high x 2.25" (5.7cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.1224,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,,Circa: 800 BC to 500 BC,Dimensions: 4.75" (12.1cm) high x 2.25" (5.7cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. This sensuous little figure with her finely detailed hair and jewels evokes the eternally feminine. She is a spiritual sister to the Astarte of the Babylonians, the Isis of the Egyptians, the Venus of the classical world. Centuries ago, this voluptuous figure was placed in an ancient tomb to guarantee the continuity of life. Her tangible sexuality still speaks clearly across all barriers of time and culture.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Man - PF.1339,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 400 BC to 100 BC,Dimensions: 4.25" (10.8cm) high x 1.5" (3.8cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Man - PF.1339,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 400 BC to 100 BC,Dimensions: 4.25" (10.8cm) high x 1.5" (3.8cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. Simple yet elegant, this little figure represents a man in his most basic form. Any person holding it recognizes a bond with its subject: the chain of human life, unbroken since time began. Those who first created this effigy so long ago saw it essentially as we do today. That ancient culture has evolved and disappeared, yet in the presence of this figure, we can understand something vital about their world.   « Less

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.1340,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 400 BC to 100 BC,Dimensions: 5" (12.7cm) high x 2.125" (5.4cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Michoacan Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.1340,Origin: Michoacan, Mexico,Circa: 400 BC to 100 BC,Dimensions: 5" (12.7cm) high x 2.125" (5.4cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Michoacan,Medium: Terracotta. Though she wears an elaborate headdress and jewelry, this voluptuous woman is otherwise naked. Placed long ago in an ancient tomb, she was meant to evoke human fertility, the promise of renewal and rebirth in the afterlife. In spirit, she is sister to the neolithic Venuses and the terracotta Astartes of the old world. Delicate and charming in appearance, she nonetheless radiates a primal energy, a power that is older than memory.   « Less