Large Tlatilco Pottery Female Figure with Flared Headdress

Pre-Columbian, Central Mexico, Tlatilco. A large hollow pottery figure of a standing woman in natural reddish-brown clay. Her head rises into a tall headdress that flares outward toward the top, set above a band across the brow. The face has narrow eyes with impressed pupils, a rounded nose, and a small mouth, with pierced ear lobes at the sides. Short arms extend from the shoulders above small breasts and a pierced navel that serves as the firing vent hole, and the body widens at the hips above short legs. Faint remains of red linear decoration are visible on the back of the head, and root marks cover much of the surface. Comes with a removable wood display stand. This figure comes from the estate of actress Frances Chaney Lardner, who acquired it in 1952. Chaney was the wife of screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr., who won Academy Awards for Woman of the Year (1942) and M*A*S*H (1970). In 1947, Lardner was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and, as one of the "Hollywood Ten," refused to answer questions about his political affiliations. He was convicted of contempt of Congress, served time in federal prison, and was blacklisted by the Hollywood studios. Chaney was also blacklisted after being named in the anti-communist publication Red Channels in 1950, which cut short her work in radio and television. The figure was acquired during the height of the blacklist era. Item # 205654

Estimate:£527.48

View all items fromArtemis Fine ArtsorPorcelain & Pottery