Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Chupicuaro and Michoacan, ca. 600 to 300 BCE. This is a collection of eight women figurines made of clay. Even the smallest has exquisite details like hairstyle, pectorals, shoulder tattooing/scarification, and earrings. Many of the women have pronounced nipples and distended bellies, possibly suggesting fertility. The real treasure here is the details on their bodies, especially their jewelry and body modification marks. Figures like this were placed facing outwards inside of shaft tombs as if in conversation with the dead inside; some scholars see these figures as a symbolic connection between the living and the dead. Size: this collection ranges in size from the smallest: 2 3/4" tall, 1" wide, and 1/4" deep, to the largest: 5" tall, 2 1/2" wide, and 1/4" deep. They all come together, mounted on a stand that is 18" long.

Provenance: ex-Hooper Collection

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#110305

All but one of these are intact with no signs of repair; the third largest has been repaired but its on her back and does not show up in display. The largest of the figures has a tiny chip from one foot.