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LOT 0174A

Nayarit Chinesco Standing Female Figure

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**Originally Listed At $600**

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A fascinating figure, hand-molded from pale clay and painted sparsely with a pale red pigment. The figure has a huge, oval, alien-like head, perhaps indicative of the practice of skull-shaping in this culture. She has a slab-like body with small breasts and a line drawn around her waist and no other defining features. Her face has incised lines creating the eyes, mouth, and headdress or coiffure. Perforations through the ears and nose may have once held gold rings, feathers, or other decoration. Size: 3.45" W x 9.85" H (8.8 cm x 25 cm); 10.2" H (25.9 cm) on included custom stand.

This style of sculpture is known as Chinesco by collectors because of its stylistic similarities to Chinese art. Clay figures like this one are the only remains that we have today of a sophisticated and unique culture in West Mexico - they made no above-ground monuments or sculptures, at least that we know of, which is in strong contrast to developments elsewhere in ancient Mesoamerica. Instead, their tombs were their lasting works of art: skeletons arrayed radially with their feet positioned inward, and clay offerings, like this one, placed alongside the walls facing inward, near the skulls.

Provenance: private Stagecoach, Nevada, USA collection; acquired from 1985 to present from galleries such as Arte Primitivo, Art For Eternity, Butterfields and Riverbend Gallery

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.

#128725
Condition Report: Figure's torso is repaired and restored, with repairs almost invisible. Manganese deposits over body, especially on the face. Nice remaining pigment.

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Time, Location
26 Mar 2020
USA, Louisville, CO
Auction House
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[ translate ]

**Originally Listed At $600**

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A fascinating figure, hand-molded from pale clay and painted sparsely with a pale red pigment. The figure has a huge, oval, alien-like head, perhaps indicative of the practice of skull-shaping in this culture. She has a slab-like body with small breasts and a line drawn around her waist and no other defining features. Her face has incised lines creating the eyes, mouth, and headdress or coiffure. Perforations through the ears and nose may have once held gold rings, feathers, or other decoration. Size: 3.45" W x 9.85" H (8.8 cm x 25 cm); 10.2" H (25.9 cm) on included custom stand.

This style of sculpture is known as Chinesco by collectors because of its stylistic similarities to Chinese art. Clay figures like this one are the only remains that we have today of a sophisticated and unique culture in West Mexico - they made no above-ground monuments or sculptures, at least that we know of, which is in strong contrast to developments elsewhere in ancient Mesoamerica. Instead, their tombs were their lasting works of art: skeletons arrayed radially with their feet positioned inward, and clay offerings, like this one, placed alongside the walls facing inward, near the skulls.

Provenance: private Stagecoach, Nevada, USA collection; acquired from 1985 to present from galleries such as Arte Primitivo, Art For Eternity, Butterfields and Riverbend Gallery

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.

#128725
Condition Report: Figure's torso is repaired and restored, with repairs almost invisible. Manganese deposits over body, especially on the face. Nice remaining pigment.

[ translate ]
Estimate
Unlock
Time, Location
26 Mar 2020
USA, Louisville, CO
Auction House
Unlock
View it on