Head from a Figure
| Culture | La Tolita |
|---|---|
| Title | Head from a Figure |
| Date | 700–800 |
| Medium | Clay and pigment |
| Dimensions | Mount: 3/4 × 4 1/4 × 5 in. (1.9 × 10.8 × 12.7 cm) Object: 4 1/2 × 4 × 5 in. (11.4 × 10.2 × 12.7 cm) Overall (includes mount): 5 1/4 × 4 1/4 × 5 in. (13.3 × 10.8 × 12.7 cm) |
| Credit Line | Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Henry R. Hope, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 72.16.3 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
White clay head with large earrings and almond-shaped eyes. The head appears to have broken off of a figure.
This head, a fragment of a mold-made figurine, belongs within the rich ceramic figural traditions of the La Tolita culture in Ecuador and its contemporary counterparts, Tumaco to the north in Colombia and Jama Coaque farther south in Ecuador. In these cultures, both animals and people were depicted, representing beings ranging from deities, to everyday people engaged in daily activities, to animals from the surrounding countryside. Though most of this figure is missing, the relative simplicity of the head indicates that the representation is human rather than divine. Other characteristics—the ear ornaments, the sloping forehead, and the elongated, bulbous skull that shows the cranial modification that the culture considered desirable—suggest that an elite member of the culture is being depicted.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Head from a Figure | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=72.16.3