Olmecoid Standing Pottery Elite Personage

Middle Preclassic Period, ca. 1200 to 500 B.C.

A finely modeled hand-built buff terracotta standing figure exemplary of the vibrant ceramic traditions of the Middle Preclassic Central Highlands, heavily imbued with the contemporary stylistic currents of the Gulf Coast Olmec.

The elongated figure is depicted standing upright with short, pointed, truncated arms extending slightly outward at the sides and sturdy, swelling thighs tapering toward diminutive, pinched feet. Around the hips rests a crisply rendered appliqué fillet loincloth incised with vertical striations.

The head displays pronounced intentional cranial deformation, swept upward into a smooth, domed conical crest retaining bright patches of applied red pigment that trail down to the nape of the neck. The sensitive face features Olmecoid sensibility, centered on delicate, slanted almond-shaped eyes framed by incised lids, retaining traces of ancient white slip within the recesses. A soft, aquiline nose and slightly downturned, full parted lips impart a serene, contemplative facial expression.

Figures of this refined type served funerary and votive functions within the ancestral burials of the Valley of Mexico, acting as personal talismans, representations of status or ritual ballplayers, and conduits between the mundane world and ancestral spirits.

Size 5-3/4 inches Height + custom mount. Choice.

Compare similar example in The Jaguar's Children: Pre-Classic Central Mexico. by Coe, Michael D. NY: Museum of Primitive Art, 1965.

Provenance: Private Mercer Island WA collection by descent from Ruth Goldwyn Capps & Henry McClure Capps (known as Mac) who was an art director and production designer for TV & films in the mid-1950s.