Jalisco Ameca Etzatlan Polychrome Seated Warrior & Club
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, Ameca Etzatlan type, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A hand-built and finely detailed pottery warrior figure seated with extended thighs and nubbin feet. The highly burnished figure sits with an upright, attentive pose and dons a set of barrel-shaped armor with a flared upper rim and a register of black zigzags on a tan ground. Wielded in both hands is a massive club with repeating red and white stripes along the handle that terminate just beneath the spike-lined beater head. Almond-shaped eyes, a ring-adorned nose and ears, pursed lips, and a layered head wrap constitute the stylized countenance, and black bars and dots create intricate facial tattooing. Size: 10.5" W x 13.875" H (26.7 cm x 35.2 cm)
West Mexican shaft tomb figures like this example derive their names from the central architectural feature that we know of from this culture. Jalisco, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was part of the shaft tomb culture during this time, along with neighbors in nearby Colima and Nayarit. These people would build generally rectangular vertical or near-vertical shafts down from the ground level - usually about 3 to 20 meters deep - through tepetate, the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region, to narrow horizontal tunnels that led to one or more vaulted or rounded burial chambers.
These shafts were almost always dug beneath a dwelling, probably a family home, and seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. Figures like this one were placed into the tombs; researchers believe that they were placed around the edges facing inward, as if in conversation with the dead. Grouped with other figures, and alongside clay bowls, and boxes, figures this one were positioned around the body (or bodies) near the skull, and warriors like this example were meant as a means of spiritual protection from evil spirits.
Provenance: ex-Arte Primitivo Gallery, New York, New York, USA; ex-John Jordan collection, Laguna Beach, California, USA, acquired in 2006; ex-Dr. Mac McLasky and Robert High collection, acquired in 1963; ex-Leonard Kaplan collection, Laguna Beach, California, USA, acquired in 1962; ex-Harry Franklin collection
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#155879
Condition Report: Professionally repaired and from several pieces, with resurfacing and overpainting along new material and break lines. Abrasions and minor nicks to club, limbs, barrel armor, and head, with fading to original pigment, and encrustations. Great manganese deposits and remains of original pigment throughout.
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Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, Ameca Etzatlan type, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A hand-built and finely detailed pottery warrior figure seated with extended thighs and nubbin feet. The highly burnished figure sits with an upright, attentive pose and dons a set of barrel-shaped armor with a flared upper rim and a register of black zigzags on a tan ground. Wielded in both hands is a massive club with repeating red and white stripes along the handle that terminate just beneath the spike-lined beater head. Almond-shaped eyes, a ring-adorned nose and ears, pursed lips, and a layered head wrap constitute the stylized countenance, and black bars and dots create intricate facial tattooing. Size: 10.5" W x 13.875" H (26.7 cm x 35.2 cm)
West Mexican shaft tomb figures like this example derive their names from the central architectural feature that we know of from this culture. Jalisco, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was part of the shaft tomb culture during this time, along with neighbors in nearby Colima and Nayarit. These people would build generally rectangular vertical or near-vertical shafts down from the ground level - usually about 3 to 20 meters deep - through tepetate, the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region, to narrow horizontal tunnels that led to one or more vaulted or rounded burial chambers.
These shafts were almost always dug beneath a dwelling, probably a family home, and seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. Figures like this one were placed into the tombs; researchers believe that they were placed around the edges facing inward, as if in conversation with the dead. Grouped with other figures, and alongside clay bowls, and boxes, figures this one were positioned around the body (or bodies) near the skull, and warriors like this example were meant as a means of spiritual protection from evil spirits.
Provenance: ex-Arte Primitivo Gallery, New York, New York, USA; ex-John Jordan collection, Laguna Beach, California, USA, acquired in 2006; ex-Dr. Mac McLasky and Robert High collection, acquired in 1963; ex-Leonard Kaplan collection, Laguna Beach, California, USA, acquired in 1962; ex-Harry Franklin collection
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#155879
Condition Report: Professionally repaired and from several pieces, with resurfacing and overpainting along new material and break lines. Abrasions and minor nicks to club, limbs, barrel armor, and head, with fading to original pigment, and encrustations. Great manganese deposits and remains of original pigment throughout.
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