Ceramist unknown (Nayarit)
Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit, Mexico
Model Depicting a Ritual Center
INV-7523
Ceramist unknown (Nayarit)
Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit, Mexico100–800 CE
Model Depicting a Ritual Center
Ceramist unknown (Nayarit) Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit, Mexico →nayaritmesoamericanPre-Columbianamericasearthenwareart of the americas
Date
100–800 CE
Medium
Earthenware and pigment
Dimensions
21.3 × 35.6 × 33.8 cm (8 7/16 × 14 1/16 × 13 5/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Ethel and Julian Goldsmith
In West Mexico, chiefdoms and statelike societies flourished between A.D. 100 and 800. Advanced agriculture, extensive trade routes, and elaborate religious festivals echoed developments in other regions of ancient Mesoamerica. The distinctive West Mexican sculptures were often included as offerings in tombs that illustrate important themes of life and the afterlife. This model of a circular ceremonial center depicts houselike temples, populated by flute players, a drummer, conch-shell trumpeters, dancers, women with children, and animals. A masked figure—likely the ruler—stands atop the central stepped pyramid.
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