Nayarit, western Mexico
Circa 100 BC to 250 AD
Ceramic, slip paint
Height 23 3/4" (60.3 cm); width 12 3/4" (32.4 cm)
Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 1980s; Jean Charlot, Honolulu; Dr. Browne, Honolulu
The Nayarit culture of western Mexico produced some of the most expressive figural ceramic sculpture of the Pre-Columbian world, with a tradition of hollow ceramic figures depicting men, women, couples, and narrative scenes that documents daily life, ceremony, and social structure with directness and formal economy. Figures of this type were placed in shaft tomb burials, the elaborate underground funerary structures characteristic of western Mexico during the Preclassic and early Classic periods, where they accompanied the deceased as offerings. The large scale of this example, at nearly two feet in height, places it among the more substantial figures within the known corpus of Nayarit tomb sculpture.
The figure is unrestored and retains its original surface, with slip paint decoration consistent with Nayarit ceramic production of the period. Western Mexican ceramic figures of this type were among the first Pre-Columbian objects to enter major American and European collections in the early to mid 20th century, and examples from documented Sotheby's sales of the 1980s represent a well established category of provenance within the field. The combination of unrestored condition and documented collection history gives this figure a clear position within the corpus of western Mexican tomb sculpture.
The provenance connects this figure to Jean Charlot, the French-born Mexican muralist and prominent figure in the Mexican Renaissance who settled in Honolulu in 1949 and taught at the University of Hawaii until his death in 1979. Charlot was an active collector of Pre-Columbian material and his collection reflected the deep engagement with indigenous Mesoamerican culture that informed his broader artistic practice. The subsequent holding by Dr. Browne of Honolulu, in whose Manoa home the figure was prominently displayed, provides a further documented point of ownership before the Sotheby's sale.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Nayarit, western Mexico
Circa 100 BC to 250 AD
Ceramic, slip paint
Height 23 3/4" (60.3 cm); width 12 3/4" (32.4 cm)
Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 1980s; Jean Charlot, Honolulu; Dr. Browne, Honolulu
The Nayarit culture of western Mexico produced some of the most expressive figural ceramic sculpture of the Pre-Columbian world, with a tradition of hollow ceramic figures depicting men, women, couples, and narrative scenes that documents daily life, ceremony, and social structure with directness and formal economy. Figures of this type were placed in shaft tomb burials, the elaborate underground funerary structures characteristic of western Mexico during the Preclassic and early Classic periods, where they accompanied the deceased as offerings. The large scale of this example, at nearly two feet in height, places it among the more substantial figures within the known corpus of Nayarit tomb sculpture.
The figure is unrestored and retains its original surface, with slip paint decoration consistent with Nayarit ceramic production of the period. Western Mexican ceramic figures of this type were among the first Pre-Columbian objects to enter major American and European collections in the early to mid 20th century, and examples from documented Sotheby's sales of the 1980s represent a well established category of provenance within the field. The combination of unrestored condition and documented collection history gives this figure a clear position within the corpus of western Mexican tomb sculpture.
The provenance connects this figure to Jean Charlot, the French-born Mexican muralist and prominent figure in the Mexican Renaissance who settled in Honolulu in 1949 and taught at the University of Hawaii until his death in 1979. Charlot was an active collector of Pre-Columbian material and his collection reflected the deep engagement with indigenous Mesoamerican culture that informed his broader artistic practice. The subsequent holding by Dr. Browne of Honolulu, in whose Manoa home the figure was prominently displayed, provides a further documented point of ownership before the Sotheby's sale.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
