Pre-Columbian, Quimbaya culture, Colombia, ca. 4th to 7th century CE. This is a charming flat pottery figure with tubular arms and legs. He is seated with one arm raised and one to his knee, with obvious genitalia and finely rendered feet and toes. The face is a delight, upturned with slits for eyes and mouth and a prominent, bulbous nose with open nostrils and a gold crescent moon-shaped pendant hanging through them; the grooves around his knees/ankles may be evidence for missing gold bands. He has the remains of what looks almost like a painted shirt, or at least some color delineating the chest from the rest of the body. This guy and ones like him are known as slab figures, and they were placed with burials in shaft and chamber tombs, perhaps as guardians or companions for the deceased. Compare this figure to the one held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Size: 5.9" W x 8.8" H (15 cm x 22.4 cm)

Provenance: Ex-Peter Arnovick collection, San Francisco, CA

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#117600

Repair to one arm and both legs, with losses as shown to the fingers of one hand. Area of repair/repainting to one top corner of head.