Colima Seated Figure of a Dwarf, Comala Style, Protoclassic, circa 100 BC - AD 250

The distinctive hunchbacked dwarf figures of the Comala tradition exert a particularly strong aura associated with their shamanic powers. The physical deformities were considered signs of special visionary and sacred powers.

The direct and piercing expression on this figure is created from the openwork eyes and firmly set mouth. The large rounded head sits erectly above the finely modeled musculature of his body. The rippled arms, strong legs, plump feet with flexed toes are thoroughly defined, his rounded torso shows the curve of strong pectorals and the scapula on the back are sharply defined; a small spout emerges from the top of the head.

For similar figures, see Richard F. Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, Chicago, 1998, p. 83, fig. 14; also see Jacki Gallagher, Companions of the Dead: Ceramic Tomb Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico, Los Angeles, 1983, p. 45, fig. 29.