Seated Figure

Culture: Remojadas
Period: Late Classic period, 600–909
Date: c.600–909
Material: Ceramic with pigment
from: Veracruz state, Mexico, North and Central America
Classification: Ceramics, sculpture
Collection: Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Current Location: On View, Gallery 114
Dimensions: 37 1/4 x 30 x 25 in. (94.6 x 76.2 x 63.5 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Morton D. May
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 212:1979

NOTES

This life-sized sculpture demonstrates the expertise of ancient Veracruz ceramic artists to work on a large scale. Visible holes at the sides and lower back may have provided space for wooden supports that would have burned away when the clay was fired. The holes could have also been used to carefully move the figure as such objects were periodically arranged in multi-figure tableaus. Some scholars have connected these figures to a deity linked with women who die in childbirth. The snakes around the waist may identify the figure as a priestess.

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