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MILLON
99
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Young woman standing body and face painted for a ceremony
Po…
See original version (French)
99
-
Young woman standing body and face painted for a ceremony
Po…
See original version (French)
Estimate €350 - €450
Voluntary lot
Description
Young woman standing
body and face painted for a ceremony
Polychrome terracotta.
Small chip at the tip of the nose. Marks of time.
Chinesco, Nayarit, western Mexico, 100 BC - 300 AD
H: 23 cm; W: 9 cm.
Provenance: Sale Paris, Drouot, study Picard-Ader-Tajan, 23-25-26/06/1975, n°33.
Chinesco figures are typical of the Nayarit region in western Mexico. Their slender silhouettes and stylised faces, with their remarkable formal sobriety, set them apart from other Mesoamerican ceramics, and frequently associate them with a ritual universe whose precise meaning remains partly enigmatic.
The paints applied to the body and face evoke the body decorations worn by participants in community ceremonies. As markers of identity and signs of function within the group, these ephemeral ornaments find a form of permanence here in terracotta, testifying to the symbolic importance attached to these practices within these societies.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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