Tag: pottery

Seated Male Figure

Seated Male Figure, Date Unknown, Mexico, Walters Art Museum

This exceptional exploration of the human form has a number of characteristics that underscore the fact that ancient artistic styles throughout West Mexico do not conform to modern political boundaries despite our use of Mexican states to name the region’s ancient cultures. The facial features and figural abstraction attest to connections between the San Sebastiian Red style of Jalisco and the Lagunillas pottery sculptures of adjacent Nayarit.

The male figure’s serene countenance and seated position on a bench-throne suggest a person of high status, his composed visage intimating that he is above the triviality of daily routine. On the other hand, his formal demeanor -arms held away from the body and hands resting securely on the knees- evokes a ritual pose like those of shamanic practices. The lack of any articulation of dress-other than the earrings, composed of a cluster of rounded forms-and the figure’s self-possessed expression point to the interpretation of the work as an idealized portrayal of a shaman in trance.

Dog Effigy

Dog Effigy Ceramic Pot, Date Unknown, Mexico, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland

Among the Aztecs of highland Mexico, dogs were associated with the deity Xolotl, the god of death. This deity and a dog were believed to lead the soul on its journey to the underworld. The Mexica also associated Xolotl with the planet Venus as the evening star and the twin brother of the deity QuetzalcГіatl, who personified Venus as the morning star. The dog’s special relationship with humans is highlighted by a number of Colima dog effigies wearing humanoid masks.

This curious effigy type has been interpreted as a shamanic transformation image or as a reference to the modern Huichol myth of the origin of the first wife, who was transformed from a dog into a human. However, recent scholarship suggests a new explanation of these sculptures as the depiction of the animal’s tonalli, its inner essence, which is made manifest by being given human form via the mask. The use of the human face to make reference to an object’s or animal’s inner spirit is found in the artworks of many ancient cultures of the Americas, from the Inuit of Alaska and northern Canada to peoples in Argentina and Chile.