**Originally Listed At $3500**

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, San Sebastian Red type, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A finely constructed pottery female figure of a sizable form who stands upon thick, delineated legs and dramatically arched feet. Highly burnished and decorated in vibrant red-orange pigment, the woman presents nude with faint remains of intricate curvilinear and stippled negative-resist motifs in dark pigment across her legs and back. She dons pairs of bangles around her elbows as well as raised scarification nodules on her shoulders, and both arms are held to her abdomen beneath her globular breasts. Her elongated head exhibits recessed eyes and mouth, an upturned nose with nostrils, tall ears accented with sets of earrings, and a concentric headband lining her coarsely textured coiffure. A wonderful example of ancient Nayarit figural artistry! Size: 7.75" W x 17.9" H (19.7 cm x 45.5 cm)

Ceramic 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. A large effigy like this one would most likely have flanked the entrance to a tomb in a way that archaeologists have interpreted as guarding. Some scholars have connected these dynamic sculptures of the living as a strong contrast to the skeletal remains whose space they shared, as if they mediated between the living and the dead.

Cf. The Gilcrease Museum, accession number 54.8181

This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world's largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.

Provenance: private New York, USA collection; ex-Sotheby's "Arcade Furniture & Decorations" auction (2007, lot 83)

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#165217

Repairs to head at neckline, proper right leg at thigh, toes and front of proper left foot, and small areas of necklace, with chipping and light adhesive residue along break lines. Chips and abrasions across several areas, with fading to pigment and negative resist motifs, and encrustations and a few small spalls. Faint remains of negative resist motifs present on legs and back, but good preservation to overall form.