figurine

Moulded red clay, constructed as a plaque, female figurine with headdress, necklace and baby on her back.

McPherson, John Dr

McPherson, John Dr

clay fired.clay

H: 99 mm W: 63 mm Th: 44 mm

America Mexico Valley.of.Mexico

Clay figurines appear in graves and the household debris of the earliest farmenrs in Mexico, and continued to be made and used by successive civilisations until the Spanish Conquest. Those made by farming communities of the Mexican Neolithic most often represent women, with exaggeration of the breasts and buttocks, perhaps reflecting a concern with human fertility and increase. Images of a later period, especially those from the great classical city of Teotihuacan, illustrate a variety of gods and human types, reflecting the richness and diversity of an elaborate priest-temple cult. This is a clay figurine from Mexico, dating from the pre-Columbian period. Many clay figurines were made both three-dimnsional and as plaques, and they depict human figures, monstrous and grotesque figures and sometimes animals. They often show the style of dress and ornament, as well as the beliefs and customs of the people who made and used them. This figure is flattened, and constructed as a plaque, but supported by a small peg-like leg so as to be free-standing. The figurine depicts a woman, full-face, with the baby, whom she carries on her back, peeping over her shoulder. She is dressed in a shawl and a head-dress which ressembles a tied headscarf. Around her neck she has a three-strand neck ornament and her ears are pierced to take very large discs, which appears from many figurines to have been common in both sexes in the pre-Columbian period. The feet are shown bare. The figure was collected with many others in Mexico by Dr John MacPherson during the early 20th century.