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Pacific Coast region (Mexico), |
This ceramic statuette is probably part of a pair depicting a man and a woman. Joining couples in a single work is a common feature of West Mexican art. We know this figure is female by the vessel she holds in her right hand and by her attire. She wears a plain headband and a long wraparound skirt resembling a SARONG. Male figures usually carry weapons or musical instruments, such as drums or rattles. They often wear a pointed, cone-shaped headdress, a MANTLE tied with a cord over one shoulder, and short trousers with a loincloth in front.
Stylistically, the figure is identified with Nayarit, the northernmost state of the shaft-tomb culture. The simple female form evokes a mood of humor and merriment. She is a caricature with exaggerated, non-NATURALISTIC features. The artist did not attempt to model realistic ANATOMICAL details such as bone, muscles, or flesh, as was done with the Nigerian shrine head in this unit. Instead, skinny arms contrast with thick, short legs, and large feet projecting at the rear enable her to stand independently. Other identifying features include an enormous nose and ears, long neck, pointed chin, and small, carefully ARTICULATED teeth bared in a half-grin.1
Both men and women wear elaborate jewelry and body markings in these sculptures. This woman's body is adorned with ear spools with radiating tassels of polished stone or obsidian, multiple nose rings made of shell, an arm band, several pellets applied to her shoulder, and a protruding PECTORAL (probably a pendant) in the shape of a crescent. The importance of body decoration is highlighted by the fact that most Nayarit figures wear at least one piece of jewelry. The red color of the baked clay predominates, with brown, white, yellow, and black painted geometric designs forming the patterned design of the skirt.
Notes
1. For stylistic descriptions of Nayarit art, see Michael Kan, Clement Meighan, and H. B. Nicholson, Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico: Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art in association with University of New Mexico Press, 1989), pp. 20-23; Bradley Smith, Mexico: A History in Art (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1968), pp. 53-60; and Gérald Berjonneau and Jean-Louis Sonnery, Precolumbian Art: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras (Boulogne, France: Editions Arts, 1985), pp. 145-146.
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