Nicoya Polychrome Hunchback Figure with Open Hump

Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Greater Nicoya, Nicoya Polychrome. A hollow pottery figure of a hunchback, shown seated with his legs stretched forward and both forearms drawn in against his chest. The figure is covered in a burnished red-orange slip, with cream bands and crisp black outlines painted over it. The face is carefully modeled, with almond eyes outlined in black, a jutting nose, pursed lips, and large round ear ornaments. A close-fitting banded cap sits on the head. Stepped and striped geometric bands run around the legs like leggings. The hump rises behind the shoulders and is open at the top. Inside, a hollow channel runs down through the body to a second opening in the base, so the piece is not a vessel. In ancient Central America, people with spinal deformities were often linked to the supernatural, and this hunchback may carry that meaning, though his exact role is not known. Painted pottery of the Greater Nicoya region (northwestern Costa Rica and the Pacific coast of Nicaragua) was at its height in the Middle and Late Polychrome periods. Potters there used white or cream slips with red, orange, and black paint, and made vessels and effigies in a range of named ware types. Across Mesoamerica and lower Central America, people with dwarfism or hunched backs were often shown in art and kept in elite settings. They were sometimes believed to have special ties to the spirit world, which may help explain why the subject was chosen. Item # 205655

Estimate:£189.03

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