Nayarit Polychrome Seated Male Mourner Figure

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A hand-built and highly burnished pottery figure of a male mourner sitting nude with bent legs, dramatically arched feet, and a stable base. Presented in striped hues of yellow, red, and dark brown, the figure leans forward in a sorrowful manner with both hands held to the top of his rounded head, as if pondering how life can proceed without the now-deceased individual in his life. His forlorn visage exhibits recessed ovoid eyes, a bulbous nose, protruding fin-shaped lips, and wide ears adorn with trios of earrings. Size: 5.8" W x 8.7" H (14.7 cm x 22.1 cm)

Cf. an example in the Sab Sebastian Red type with a similar pose in Kan, Michael, Clement Meighan, and H.B. Nicholson. "Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico: Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima | A Catalogue of the Proctor Stafford Collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1989, p. 98, fig. 50.

Provenance: private Healy collection, Studio City, California, USA, acquired 1995 to 2015

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#166545
Condition Report: Repaired from several large pieces, with resurfacing and overpainting along break lines. Abrasions, nicks, and chips to limbs, body, and head, with fading and darkening to original pigment, a couple of small spalls, and light encrustations. Nice preservation to original pigment in several areas.