Pre-Columbian Jalisco & Colima Pottery Standing Figures, Group of 3 (Auction 2026-06-05, Lot 38A)

$449.75

A trio of hand-modeled earthenware figures from the shaft-tomb cultures of West Mexico, each rendered with the frank corporeality that distinguishes Jalisco and Colima ceramic art. The tallest, a Jalisco standing female, presents her body unadorned: small breasts, incised pubis, and a softly distended abdomen suggesting pregnancy or fecundity. Her face is dominated by a long, ridged nose, almond-slit eyes, and applied disc earspools, crowned by a wrapped turban-like headband painted in oxidized red slip that also colors her shoulders, calves, and feet. The flanking pair, attributed to Colima, share buff slip surfaces with mineral encrustation acquired through long burial. One stands with arms folded protectively across the chest, a short ribbed skirt or apron incised at the waist, while the other holds his arms at his sides above a smooth loincloth, his stocky legs slightly splayed. Each wears the rolled fillet headband characteristic of the region’s funerary ceramics, and each face carries the inward, meditative stillness typical of the genre. Figures of this kind were deposited in the deep shaft-and-chamber tombs of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima, where they served as companions and witnesses to the dead, perhaps embodying ancestors, mourners, or fertility intercessors. Their unflinching anatomy and concentrated presence give them a sculptural authority that has fascinated modern collectors from Diego Rivera onward.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection; Tallest: ex-private Los Angeles, California, USA collection; ex-major gallery, Beverly Hills, California, USA, primarily acquired between 1985 and 2005

Condition: Good. Largest is missing proper left nipple. Colima figure in skirt has chip to nose and has been repaired with restoration over some break lines, while other break lines remain visible. All have expected surface wear with abrasions in areas. One suspension hole on largest figure has been encrusted over inhibiting wear as a pendant. Otherwise, Colima figure in loincloth is intact and all present very nicely. Scattered mineral deposits throughout.