Colima Standing Figure, Comala Style, Protoclassic, circa 100 BC - AD 250

Frances Pratt, New York
Stanley Marcus, Dallas, acquired from the above in 1968
American Trade, acquired from the above
Sotheby’s, New York, May 17, 1994, lot 151, consigned by the above
Private Collection, acquired at the above auction

Ritual feasting ceremonies were highly important community events, especially the preparation of fermented drinks, including octli (pulque), tesvino and mezcal, made from maguey or agave plants. This figure may represent part of the process of extracting the agave pulp with a tubular gourd implement, the acocotes, by suctioning the aguamiel from the heart of the plant. This figure shows the heavy satchel slung over the left shoulder and hanging from the right elbow, as he leans forward with eyes closed and mouth puckered, the cheeks markedly drawn inward.

See Kristi Butterwick, "Food for the Dead, The West Mexican Art of Feasting", in Richard F. Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, Chicago, 1998, p. 103.