Comala Style, Protoclassic Period, circa 100 B.C. to A.D. 250
A fine, important and unusual redware sculpture which served a multitude of functions; as a vessel, as a head support and as a ritual object for a mortuary context. Comprised of a hollow chamber with high spout and human legs on one side with sloped back used as a headrest for support; the other side depicts nearly twin opposed figures striding outward with back legs overlapping, each decorated with textile design over torso consisting of incised wavy bands and with a flaring triangle tassels below. They each have crested headdresses worn at different angles. The forward facing crest is an insignia of a shaman. Both figures have animated faces with small puckered mouths and incised eyes, and one figure clasps his head and stomach as if engaging in a specific ritual; the other, with exaggerated pursed lips as if speaking or singing may be uttering prayers or incantations. Both of these figures depiction function in this context to help secure the safety and journey of the decedent to the supernatural or next world.In Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, Chicago, Peter Furst acknowledges that this sculptural corpus does not only represent the everyday physical secular world, but in fact, some sculptures are dealing with themes in the “non-ordinary” spiritual or magical world. This is a new take and a far cry from how these statues were originally thought to function.
In taking great care to entomb their ancestors and make them comfortable with this head rest, they are also using the medium to invoke a supernatural act for safe passage to the next world.
Height: 9 ⅛ in (23.2 cm).
Choice and rare. Intact.
Provenance: Miller Family Collection, Chicago, acquired by 1973 (listed in the May 8, 1973 appraisal of the collection)
Published: Andrea Stone, Face and Heart: The Figure in Mesoamerican Sculpture, Milwaukee, 1986, fig 16, p. 25, cat. no. 38; & ;Richard Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, Chicago, 1998, p. 171, fig. 9, cat. no. 85
Exhibited: The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Face and Heart: The Figure in Mesoamerican Sculpture, March 30 - May 11, 1986; & The Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient West Mexico, Art and Archeology of the Unknown Past, September 5 - November 22, 1998, additional venue: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 20, 1998 - March 29, 1999.
