the Wray Collection (Phoenix, Arizona, USA). 1984-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Kneeling Female Effigy Figure, between 1st century BCE and 1st century CE
- Nayarit, Precolumbian
Terracotta and pigment
- Overall: 10 7/8 × 6 1/2 × 5 1/2 inches (27.6 × 16.5 × 14 cm)
Gift of Mr. W. Hawkins Ferry
1984.33
On View
- Native American S131
Department
Africa, Oceania & Indigenous Americas
Details
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.
Bulletin of the DIA 62, no. 2 (1985): 28, fig. 21.
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.
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