Lot 179, Auction 3/19/2026: Large Jalisco Pottery Seated Male Figure w/ Club

$1,170.00

In stock

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A fabulous, remarkably intact pottery warrior figure shown nude and seated upon a broad posterior with bent legs that flank a protruding phallus. The bulbous, orange-and-red abdomen tapers towards the stippled shoulders, with a petite olla intended for holding blood held in his left hand, and a lengthy, ball-headed club is held in his right. The broad neck supports the elongated head which displays impressed slit-form eyes beneath bulging brows, a huge aquiline nose, a petite mouth with incised teeth, tassel-adorned ears, and a smooth forehead beneath a thick headband. The highly burnished warrior exhibits wonderful coloration and detailing that has become synonymous with high-quality Jalisco artistry! Size: 7.4″ L x 7.6″ W x 11.5″ H (18.8 cm x 19.3 cm x 29.2 cm)

Jalisco, located on Mexico’s southwestern coast, was during this time part of the shaft tomb culture, along with neighbors to the north in Colima and Nayarit. In this culture, the dead were buried down shafts – 3 to 20 meters deep – that were dug vertically or near vertically through the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region. The base of the shaft would open into one or more horizontal chambers with a low ceiling. These shafts were almost always dug beneath a dwelling, probably a family home, and seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. This is a figure made to be placed inside those mausoleums, perhaps to mediate between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Cf. Minneapolis Institute of Art, 81.125.15.

Condition: Age-commensurate surface wear with a few minor chips, nicks, and abrasions as shown. Otherwise, impressively intact! Great preservation of detail with heavy encrustations to interior. Earthen and manganese deposits throughout.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection; ex-Artemis Gallery, Louisville, Colorado, USA; ex-private Estate collection, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; ex-Harner collection, acquired 1950 to 1960

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