Mexico, Jalisco, El Arenol type
100 BC–250 AD
Ceramic
Height: 16 in (40.6 cm)
Provenance: Dr. Ernesto Lira, Corpus Christi, Texas, acquired 1960s
Exhibition: Museum of the Red River, Idabel, Oklahoma; Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas; Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee, Oklahoma, "Pre-Columbian Life Ways," 2019–2022
The El Arenol type is a recognized subgroup within the Jalisco ceramic tradition of West Mexico, distinguished by its large scale, elaborate surface decoration, and depiction of armed male figures in warrior or ceremonial dress. Figures of this type were placed as funerary offerings in the shaft tombs of the region and are understood to represent individuals of elevated social rank, possibly warriors, shamans, or ancestral figures invested with military or ritual authority. The combination of helmet, shield, and club places this figure within a well-documented iconographic program of Jalisco martial imagery.
This figure stands with a large rectangular shield in one hand and a club in the other, wearing a structured helmet with projecting elements and an off-shoulder drape across the torso. The surface is finished in cream slip over a reddish-brown ground, a characteristic El Arenol treatment, with white dot decoration applied to the shield and body. The modeling extends to fine details including individually rendered fingernails, and the piece carries exhibition history across three American museum venues between 2019 and 2022, tracing to a Texas collection formed in the 1960s.
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Mexico, Jalisco, El Arenol type
100 BC–250 AD
Ceramic
Height: 16 in (40.6 cm)
Provenance: Dr. Ernesto Lira, Corpus Christi, Texas, acquired 1960s
Exhibition: Museum of the Red River, Idabel, Oklahoma; Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas; Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee, Oklahoma, "Pre-Columbian Life Ways," 2019–2022
The El Arenol type is a recognized subgroup within the Jalisco ceramic tradition of West Mexico, distinguished by its large scale, elaborate surface decoration, and depiction of armed male figures in warrior or ceremonial dress. Figures of this type were placed as funerary offerings in the shaft tombs of the region and are understood to represent individuals of elevated social rank, possibly warriors, shamans, or ancestral figures invested with military or ritual authority. The combination of helmet, shield, and club places this figure within a well-documented iconographic program of Jalisco martial imagery.
This figure stands with a large rectangular shield in one hand and a club in the other, wearing a structured helmet with projecting elements and an off-shoulder drape across the torso. The surface is finished in cream slip over a reddish-brown ground, a characteristic El Arenol treatment, with white dot decoration applied to the shield and body. The modeling extends to fine details including individually rendered fingernails, and the piece carries exhibition history across three American museum venues between 2019 and 2022, tracing to a Texas collection formed in the 1960s.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
