Veracruz Pottery Sonriente Flute
Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast Mexico, Vera Cruz, Remojadas, ca. 100 BCE to 800 CE. An endearing terracotta sonriente (smiling face) whistle figure. Sonrientes are the most well-known of Remojadas figurines, featuring a traditional wide smile revealing filed teeth on a characteristically almost triangular shaped face, attached to a child-like body with outstretched limbs. This figure is also adorned by earspools and a tall headdress. Why that smile? Some scholars believe that it was hallucinogenically produced perhaps by ingesting alcoholic pulque, while others such as Miller and Taube suggest that the smiling figures were actually performers. Size: 4.625" W x 11.25" H (11.7 cm x 28.6 cm); 11.5" H (29.2 cm) on included custom stand.
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private T. Misenhimer collection, Beverly Hills, California, USA, collected from 1970 to 2008
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.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#161448
Condition Report: Repair and restoration to mouthpiece, limbs, and much of body, with resurfacing and overpainting along new material and break lines. Chips to head, face, body, arms, and legs, with softening to some facial features, and light encrustations. Nice figural form preserved. Flute produces low-pitched notes when played.
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Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast Mexico, Vera Cruz, Remojadas, ca. 100 BCE to 800 CE. An endearing terracotta sonriente (smiling face) whistle figure. Sonrientes are the most well-known of Remojadas figurines, featuring a traditional wide smile revealing filed teeth on a characteristically almost triangular shaped face, attached to a child-like body with outstretched limbs. This figure is also adorned by earspools and a tall headdress. Why that smile? Some scholars believe that it was hallucinogenically produced perhaps by ingesting alcoholic pulque, while others such as Miller and Taube suggest that the smiling figures were actually performers. Size: 4.625" W x 11.25" H (11.7 cm x 28.6 cm); 11.5" H (29.2 cm) on included custom stand.
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private T. Misenhimer collection, Beverly Hills, California, USA, collected from 1970 to 2008
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.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#161448
Condition Report: Repair and restoration to mouthpiece, limbs, and much of body, with resurfacing and overpainting along new material and break lines. Chips to head, face, body, arms, and legs, with softening to some facial features, and light encrustations. Nice figural form preserved. Flute produces low-pitched notes when played.
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Time, Location
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