Jalisco Sculpture of a Couple - PF.1081,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 5.625" (14.3cm) high x 4.75" (12.1cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style:  More »

Jalisco Sculpture of a Couple - PF.1081,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 5.625" (14.3cm) high x 4.75" (12.1cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. With remarkable skill, the ancient artist has conveyed the mood of a moment that has just passed. There is nothing much taking place in the vignette we see before us: a woman stands and turns away from her male companion, who remains seated on the ground. Yet, unmistakably there is the feeling that something sexual has just occurred. Such a moment, a transition between intimacy and the more public side of life, strikes a chord that the passage of time has not lessened.   « Less

Jalisco Seated Shaman Drinking from a Bowl - PF.1278,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 7.75" (19.7cm) high x 5" (12.7cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Jalisco Seated Shaman Drinking from a Bowl - PF.1278,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 7.75" (19.7cm) high x 5" (12.7cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. Holding a large bowl in his lap, this fellow drinks through a straw. This may represent a scene of ritual intoxication or simply a vignette from everyday life. Concentrating deeply on the contents of the bowl, perhaps lost in a magical dream, he seems not to notice the changes in the world around him. Perhaps it is an elixer of youth that he imbibes, for he appears to have altered very little in all these years.   « Less

Jalisco Sculpture of a Seated Woman - PF.1369,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 7.5" (19.1cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium:  More »

Jalisco Sculpture of a Seated Woman - PF.1369,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 7.5" (19.1cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. Though created for burial in a tomb this voluptuous woman celebrates the joys of life. Her rounded form evokes the eternally feminine, a promise of continuity and rebirth. The people who shaped her so long ago and offered her as a token of respect for the deceased surely loved the pleasures of this world. Even centuries later, her message of hope and optimism is immediately understandable, timelessly relevant. She reminds us that the basics of human existence have hardly changed since the dawn of time.   « Less

Pre-Columbian Art / Jalisco Seated Female - PF.1434,Origin: Mexico (Western),Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 8.625" (21.9cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Medium:  More »

Pre-Columbian Art / Jalisco Seated Female - PF.1434,Origin: Mexico (Western),Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 8.625" (21.9cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Medium: Terracotta. As we hold this voluptuous figure in our hands today, we are linked across time with the person who last held her centuries ago. From this single clue, what can we know about the individual? Most probably she was female, for the sculpture was intended to accompany the deceased through eternity in her stead. In appearance and costume, she may have shared certain traits, probably youth and the aristocratic profile. We can imagine her feelings of sadness and loss, for such emotions have hardly changed with time. Suddenly, the centuries dissolve, and we feel ourselves intimately in the prescence of someone very real, whose spirit resides just beneath the surface of the clay.   « Less

Jalisco Sculpture of a Seated Man - PF.1475,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 17.25" (43.8cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium:  More »

Jalisco Sculpture of a Seated Man - PF.1475,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 17.25" (43.8cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. The very finest figural art reveals more than just the appearance of an ancient people: it offers a glimpse into their soul. In the expression, the pose, the attitude of a sculpture, we can detect the hopes, passions and dreams that guided a vanished culture. At times, these images seem exotic, distant, rare as a jungle flower. Sometimes they hit us with the shock of recognition: we realize that the essentials of human existence have changed little with the centuries. This superb figure of unusual size was placed in an ancient tomb to accompany the deceased through eternity and to convey the grief of the living. Though he remains mute, we feel he communicates important facts about the world that created him.   « Less

Jalisco Terracotta Conch Shell Effigy Trumpet - PF.1986,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 10" (25.4cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style:  More »

Jalisco Terracotta Conch Shell Effigy Trumpet - PF.1986,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 10" (25.4cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. In Ancient America, the Conch shell came to symbolize rank and nobility. These natural wonders were prized for their beauty and rarity; blown as ceremonial trumpets to signal the approach of royalty. Frequently, Conch shells were buried with kings as a token of their earthly powers. What is most remarkable about this Ancient Mexican example is that it is manmade, an exacting replica of the sea creature. Its graceful lines make us appreciate the remarkable structure of the original. If we listen carefully, we can almost hear the melancholy notes it played long ago.   « Less

Jalisco Terracotta Conch Shell Effigy Trumpet - PF.1987,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 9.5" (24.1cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style:  More »

Jalisco Terracotta Conch Shell Effigy Trumpet - PF.1987,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 9.5" (24.1cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. Echoing the graceful forms of the sea shell, this man-made object gives us a new appreciation for nature's engineering skills. Throughtout Ancient America, the Conch shell was prized for its rarity and beauty. Blown as a trumpet, it heralded the approach of royalty, and thus the Conch came to symbolize power and rank. The person in whose tomb this remarkable effigy was buried was no doubt someone of high stature. Perhaps the trumpet was blown as a mark of respect during their funeral procession. If we listen carefully, we can almost hear the melancholy notes drifting through the sunset.   « Less

Jalisco Terracotta Sculpture of a Kneeling Woman - PF.2025,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 6.5" (16.5cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style:  More »

Jalisco Terracotta Sculpture of a Kneeling Woman - PF.2025,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 6.5" (16.5cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. The gesture this woman makes--placing her hand behind her neck--is a traditional mark of mourning in the Pre-Columbian world. She was no doubt left as a grave offering to express some woman's eternal sorrow. Yet along with her attitude of sadness, she offers the promise of renewal and rebirth, the suggestion of fertile life to come. We are reminded that human existence moves in cycles, an endless pattern of birth and death. No matter what else changes in civilization, these things remain constant.   « Less

Jalisco Sculpture of a Seated Man - PF.2026,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 6.875" (17.5cm) high x 5.625" (14.3cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Jalisco Sculpture of a Seated Man - PF.2026,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 6.875" (17.5cm) high x 5.625" (14.3cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. Such figures were placed in the tombs of Ancient Mexico, to accompany the deceased through the ages. They represent the eternal sorrow of the living people who left them there. We may guess that this seated man bears some resemblance to the person whose gift he was, a fellow of some rank and distinction. We know nothing more about that individual, not his name or his age or what he thought, yet in the presence of this little effigy, we feel we understand something vital about him and his world.   « Less

Jalisco Sculpture of a Seated Woman Holding a Child - PF.2185,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 4.875" (12.4cm) high x 3" (7.6cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Jalisco Sculpture of a Seated Woman Holding a Child - PF.2185,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 4.875" (12.4cm) high x 3" (7.6cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Jalisco,Medium: Terracotta. In all of human culture, in every civilization, in every part of the world, there is perhaps no more endearing image than that of mother and child. Primal, vital, old as time itself, the material image has intrigued artists throughout the ages. This Ancient Mexican example is simplicity itself, for it reflects a scene from everyday life. A young seated mother holds her baby in her arms. There is no more to the sculpture than that, yet it radiates an eternal and everlasting power. Its appeal is timeless and can be immediately understood by all who see it.   « Less