Standing Female Figure

This female figure has a smoothly modeled face, perhaps a portrait. Emphasis was given to the brow area, and to the carved, black oval eyes, accentuated by black face paint and with a spot of white slip to mark each pupil. The mouth is open to reveal the individually carved white teeth, each also outlined in black. The nose is adorned with a nose ring consisting of seven appliqued loops. A series of parallel black zigzags representing face paint covers the lower part of the figure’s face. The hair is parted in the middle and bound around a turban, the ends wrapped with a decorative cord The figure wears seven appliqued earrings per ear, each with a black tab and white disk. A simple necklace is indicated by a thick double black band. A sienna-hued slip was used to indicate exposed parts of the body. The back of the figure is finished with delicately sculpted shoulder blades and hips. An inverted-triangle motif portraying either tattoos or body art is painted twice, below each shoulder blade. Most likely, this design was the emblem or symbol of a specific, powerful Nayarit lineage. The pattern consists of seven inverted mini-triangles forming the top row and tapers symmetrically to one at the base of the tattoo; it appears in exactly the same form, color, and physical positions on another female figure (see MMA 2018.443.3).

This figure may be part of a group created by the same artist or workshop, and appear to represent members of an important ancient West Mexican lineage or social group (Butterwick 2004: 83-87). Shared features and craftsmanship suggest that one artist made all three figures, and they may have been deposited in the same shaft tomb in the Nayarit village where they originated (see 2018.443.1, 2018.443.3). If the similarities between the two females were intended to show kinship, the figures might represent mother and daughter, or sisters in the same lineage. Alternatively, the two may portray a female of high status in two stages of her life: young (perhaps pregnant) and mature. The features shared by the male and the elder female, especially the emblematic conch bracelet, suggest that they belong to the same lineage. Lastly, the unusual fact that all three wear black leg paint may further indicate a common genealogy.