{"product_id":"pre-columbian-nayarit-pottery-male-and-female-couple-2","title":"Pre-Columbian Nayarit Pottery Male and Female Couple (2)","description":"\u003cp\u003eWest Mexico, Ixlan Del Rio, Ca. 200 BC to 300 AD.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA charming matched pair of hollow polychrome earthenware standing figures; the male with prestige staff and conical cap, female with shoulder bowl and textile skirt.    They are ornately decorated in slip pigments and have ear clips and nose ornaments. From shaft-tomb (tumbas de tiro) contexts, these figures represent the founding couple or venerated ancestors of a lineage, produced to be interred with elite burials.  Nayarit ancestor pairs were \"sculpted to honor kin and ancestors… interred in an elite shaft tomb as part of the ancestors' treasured belongings along with bowls filled with food and drink for the journey to the underworld\". \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSizes:  Male: 9.25\" height, 4.75\" widest, 3.5\" depth \/ Female: 8.5\" height, 5\" widest, 2.75\" depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProvenance: From the Estate of Dr. William K. Emerson (1925–2016), New York City. Dr. Emerson was Curator Emeritus of Invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History, where he served for four decades. He earned his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley before moving to New York in 1955. Over a distinguished career he discovered and classified more than 100 species of mollusks on numerous Pacific voyages, and published six books and more than 100 articles; he retired in 1995 as Chair of the Department of Invertebrates. An avid collector of Pre-Columbian art throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Dr. Emerson assembled his Nayarit holdings during the classic New York gallery era for Pre-Columbian material, providing this pair with a solid pre-1970s institutional-curator provenance\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMatched pairs of this quality are comparatively rare; most shaft-tomb assemblages were dispersed in the mid-20th century, and intact pairs that have remained together since the 1960s carry a significant market premium.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Art for Eternity","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53429677949242,"sku":"17027","price":4500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0775\/5120\/6714\/files\/17027blu.jpg?v=1778356129","url":"https:\/\/howardnowes.com\/products\/pre-columbian-nayarit-pottery-male-and-female-couple-2","provider":"Art for Eternity","version":"1.0","type":"link"}