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UnknownPre-Columbian Colima Shaman terracotta figure vessel Mexican sculpture ca. 300 BCE - 300 CE
ca. 300 BCE - 300 CE
About the Item
Seated Shaman
Colima culture
Mexico
ca. 300 BCE - 300 CE
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A hollow-cast and highly-burnished terracotta hunchback shaman figural vessel.
Hunchbacks were considered sacred in Pre Columbian cultures and are often depicted as shamans or as assistants to royalty. The shaman holds an oval vessel and shakes a rattle in his lively role within a feasting ritual. Feasting was one of the four most important themes portrayed in West Mexican art, along with kinship, status, and power (Butterwick, Heritage of Power, 2005, p. 12). Feasting ceremonies were an integral part of a community that solidified economic and social interaction within and between villages, engaging all levels of the society.
It is suggested that the rattles were peyote buttons which would be integral to any shamanic activity surrounding a religious feast. The known intoxicating liquids included octli, or pulque from agave plants, or tesvino, maize beer (Butterwick, in Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico, 1998, p. 103). This figure also wears the insignia of rank with the shell projection on the forehead secured with the incised band wrapped carefully around the chin and head. The stylized head faces the bowl with a solemn, determined visage comprised of coffee bean eyes, a pronounced pointed nose, pursed lips, and sensitively contoured facial planes, all topped by a caplike headdress with a horn rising from the center. A very unusual element is the small nose ring. The most curious aspect is the specific abnormality of the figure's spine. His back exhibits a protrusion not unlike an animal's tail, suggesting that the figure was based on a specific shaman. Overall, the graceful lines and studied proportions place this example among those of the highest distinction.
Colima, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was during this time part of the shaft tomb culture, along with neighbors to the north in Jalisco and Nayarit. In this culture, the deceased were buried down shafts - ranging from 3 to 20 meters deep - that were dug vertically or near vertically through the volcanic tuff known as "tepetate" that makes up the geology of the region. The base of the shaft would open into one or more horizontal chambers with a low ceiling. These shafts were almost always dug beneath a dwelling, probably a family home, and seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. Ornate vessels and finely modeled figures like this one were placed in the tombs in order to hold offerings and protect the soul of the deceased.
Condition: Thumb and bowl on left hand have broken off as one piece and have been reattached. Otherwise intact. Covered with nice burnishing marks.
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all purchases
- Creation Year:ca. 300 BCE - 300 CE
- Dimensions:Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 12.25 in (31.12 cm)Depth: 8 in (20.32 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Wilton Manors, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU24525339032
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