This piece is from my parents private collection of Pre-Columbian pottery and figurines. They lived in Jalisco, Mexico (where my mother still resides) for almost 50 years. My late father was a well known writer, artist and sculptor and was keenly interested in the culture in terms of artistic endeavors, especially in the antiquities, and assisted in artifact display, mounting and lighting design at a museum in Jalisco. My parents went on many archeological excursions into mainly western regions and personally found many items in their collection, although many were purchased as well.
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PRE-COLUMBIAN FRAGMENTED FIGURE HEAD
Authentic piece from West Mexico, Nayarit, c.150 BC to 250 AD
Measures about 7" tall x 6" wide and weighs 1 pound.
This is the head, shoulders and back of a female partial figure that was part of a large pot. Terracotta colored paint on shoulders, bust and back. Does not appear to have restoration. No cracks.
I remember this piece being mounted on a spindle on a broad wood base in a display cabinent in the 60's. I haven't located either the mounting base or spindle. My father was an artist & pefectionist and he would turn in his grave if he saw the way in which this glorious piece was mounted! I've noticed that several pieces of this collection have exhibited amateur repairs & attempts at re-mounting. The trunks containing this part of the collection had been stored at my grandmothers house in CA for many years while my parents were travelling extensively and thought Granny's was the safest place for the important "stuff" (their home in Mexico had been burgled two times). Turned out that this collection never returned to Mexico...where my mother still lives (it's ok~~she has more!). I called my uncle recently to shed some light on the poor repairs and, sure enough, he had "borrowed" a couple figurines for display in his home. You can surmise the rest of the story. However, this accounts for the glue and other poor quality repair work. This being said, I will leave it to you, the new owner, to discard the mounting or do what you see fit. Actually, this small block & spindle were created for another piece.
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