Lot 60

A Chinesco Male Figure, Type E Protoclassic, ca. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250

Estimate

60,000 - 90,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

leaning against the low four-legged backrest in peaceful repose, the head craning forward with cheeks marked by parallel scarification, showing a beard, and wearing double headband and loincloth, covered in creamy slip with details in reddish brown and black, including stars on the top and underside of the backrest.

Provenance

Acquired in the 1970s

Exhibited

Los Angeles, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Anecdotal Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico, 1972, fig. 10
Los Angeles, UCLA Fowler Museum, Companions of the Dead, Ceramic Tomb Sculpture from Ancient West Mexico, October 11-November 27, 1983, fig. 162
Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient West Mexico, Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, September 5-November 22, 1998, continuing to
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 20, 1998-March 29, 1999, cat. no. 211

Literature

Hasso von Winning and Olga Hammer, Anecdotal Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico, 1972, p. 34, fig. 10
Jacki Gallagher, Companions of the Dead, Ceramic Tomb Sculpture from Ancient West Mexico, 1983, fig. 162
Richard Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico, Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, 1998, p. 284, cat. no. 211

Catalogue Note

This is the only figure of all the Lagunillas styles, shown with any accessory such as the stool or backrest. He is probably resting after a cheek-piercing event, which the scarified cheeks represent. This practice was a well-recognized form of mourning--the living giving sacrifice to venerate the deceased, and joining them in the transitional world through extraordinary acts. For further discussion of cheek-piercing, see Townsend, ed. (1998: 133).