Kneeling Female Effigy Figure

between 1st century BCE and 1st century CE

Nayarit, Precolumbian

On View

Native American, Level 1, South Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

The cultures of west Mexico buried their dead in shaft-chamber tombs accompanied by a variety of ceramic offerings. The tombs, often as deep as fifty feet, were prepared in advance and signs of reuse suggest they functioned as family crypts. Numerous effigy figures representing family members or servants were placed in the tombs to assist the deceased as their counterparts had done in life. This large, hollow female effigy figure represents the Chinesco style, distinguished by an emphasis on naturalism and oriental-like facial features. Small red designs decorate the body, probably representing body paint or tattoos.

Title Kneeling Female Effigy Figure

Artwork Date between 1st century BCE and 1st century CE

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Precolumbian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Nayarit

Medium Terracotta and pigment

Dimensions Overall: 10 7/8 × 6 1/2 × 5 1/2 inches (27.6 × 16.5 × 14 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Indigenous Americas

Credit Gift of Mr. W. Hawkins Ferry

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 1984.33

Markings

Marks Previous owner's accession number painted on figure's bottom inner thigh: 879-W

Provenance

the Wray Collection (Phoenix, Arizona, USA).
1984-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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Published References

Bulletin of the DIA 62, no. 2 (1985): p. 28 (fig. 21).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Nayarit, Precolumbian, Kneeling Female Effigy Figure, between 1st century BCE and 1st century CE, terracotta and pigment. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. W. Hawkins Ferry, 1984.33.