LARGE CHUPÍCUARO STANDING FEMALE FIGURE Late Preclassic, ca. 300-100 B.C.

of imposing stature and confident stance in contrast to the delicate swelling of the lower belly possibly indicating pregnancy, with wide-set small breasts, the animated face with characteristic open mouth showing carefully recessed teeth, and large oval eyes deeply outlined, arms looped to the side with shoulders raised and hands pressed into the abdomen, her ears pierced for large ornaments, and painted in raised and resist technique with step-fret designs in cream and black covering the broad torso, face and thighs. 

Acquired in the 1960's

Overall very good coloring and condition except the visible losses of pigment on the lower abdomen and legs. There are 2-3 breaks and repairs on the left shin, with a small missing triangle of material also visible. There is a break and repair on the right shoulder.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Chupícuaro polychrome figures from the Michoacán, Guanajuato region are the earliest Mesoamerican large figural ceramics with complex polychrome designs of a highly consistent iconographic style. The detailed resist technique of the bold step-fret design, is one aspect of a sophisticated and innovative ceramic tradition beginning in the Middle to Late Preclassic ( ca. 500 BC).  The highly burnished redware surface mastered by the ancient ceramists, remained an influential style into the Postclassic era.
The site of Chupícuaro was part of a cluster of well-developed regional centers with strong ties to other urban communities eastward in the Valley of Mexico and to the western regions of Jalisco. The distinctive figures became known in the 1920's, however the subsequent construction of the Solís Dam in 1949 along the Rio Lerma flooded much of the region.
This figure is one of the largest known, showing a broad forceful body with the characteristic full hips and thighs and a subtle reference to pregnancy. The central groove on the sloping head seen on many of the large hollow figures, may derive from the early Preclassic style of cleft heads referencing growing vegetation and regeneration. See Townsend, ed. (1998:119, Fig. 15) and Sotheby's, Paris, March 22/23, 2013,  Collection Barbier-Mueller, lot 137, for the large "Venus" Chupícuaro figure.