Female Figure
| Culture | Nayarit |
|---|---|
| Title | Female Figure |
| Date | 200 BCE–300 CE |
| Medium | Clay and pigment |
| Dimensions | Object: 8 1/8 × 6 5/8 × 3 1/2 in. (20.6 × 16.8 × 8.9 cm) Overall: 8 1/8 x 6 5/8 x 3 1/2 in. (20.6 x 16.8 x 8.9 cm) |
| Credit Line | Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 72.42.4 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
A seated figure with a large head and pointed legs. The figure is painted with white, black, and orange/red pigment; the legs are orange/red, there is a black and white design on the figure's torso, and there are black and red diagonal marks across the face.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of ceramic sculptures depicting figures, animals, plant life, miniature structures, and even groups of figures engaged in activities from daily and ritual life have been found as offerings in shaft tombs in the western Mexico states of Jalisco, Colima, and Nayarit. These tombs contain multiple burials, apparently used by a family or lineage over time. Though most figures were not found in controlled excavations, a number of styles and sub-styles have been associated with particular areas. This figure exhibits burnished surfaces, painted decorations, a triangular-shaped head, narrow eyes, and thick legs that end in a point—features that associate it with the Lagunillas style of Nayarit, a style formerly called Chinesco.
1972, Indiana University Art Museum purchase from Crouch Gallery, Macomb, IL
unidentified date, Crouch Gallery acquires [1]
Unidentified dates, unidentified owner(s), possibly in Mexico and/or other places [2]
Notes
[1] Crouch did not provide any further provenance information to the museum.
[2] We do not yet know how many changes in ownership transpired between when this artwork was initially made and owned to when Crouch Gallery acquired it. This absence of documentation on ownership history within the cultures where the artworks were made and used is part of a larger history of collecting practices that did not record prior ownership among communities of origin.
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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Cite this page
"Female 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=72.42.4