Ceramist unknown (Jalisco)
Ameca Valley, Jalisco, Mexico
Storyteller
INV-7379
Ceramist unknown (Jalisco)
Ameca Valley, Jalisco, Mexico100–800 CE
jaliscoameca-zacoalcomesoamericanPre-Columbianceramicsearthenware
Date
100–800 CE
Medium
Earthenware and slip
Dimensions
53.1 × 54.5 × 27.3 cm (20 15/16 × 21 1/2 × 10 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Bequest of Ruth Falkenau Fund in memory of her parents
This energetic figure looks like he is about to tell a really interesting story. Unfortunately, what he sought to communicate is lost to time. In ancient west Mexico, such ceramic figures were used in life and ultimately interred in shaft tombs. Although West Mexican art has at times been overshadowed by Olmec, Maya, and Aztec art, it became popular among US collectors in the mid-20th century. Chicago has been a center for collecting West Mexican art and today the Art Institute stewards many pieces from these important ceramic traditions.
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