Colima Standing Nude Female Figure with Headdress and Scarification

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima. A solid buff pottery figure of a standing nude woman. She is modeled frontally, with short stub arms held at her sides and legs set slightly apart. A broad, flat headdress crowns an elongated face with slit eyes, a prominent nose, and a small pursed mouth. Squared locks of hair or side flaps fall to either side of her face. Round appliqued pellets cover her shoulders and upper arms, and a further row crosses her chest above petite raised breasts. This raised ornament likely represents ceremonial scarification, though it may also be read as a beaded collar. The genitalia are clearly delineated. Horizontal impressed bands circle each leg at the knee, perhaps showing bindings or garters. Small solid figures of this kind were placed in shaft tombs, possibly as companions for the dead or as emblems of fertility and lineage. Item # 205665

Estimate:£151.22

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