1973.58 Seated man and woman (Jalisco, Mexico, West Mexico)

This couple has several characteristic features of the Jalisco ceramic style: bulging and thick‑lidded eyes, carefully modeled noses, wide mouths with parted lips, and frontal, somewhat static poses. Such male‑female couples, both joined and as individual figures, have been found in the West Mexican areas that correspond to the states of Jalisco, Colima, and Nayarit. The figures assume various postures—some stand on their own feet; others sit with their legs crossed or perch on stools. The ancient inhabitants of West Mexico benefited from plentiful natural resources and a period of prosperity in the centuries between 300 BCE and 400 CE. The family lineages established by prominent community members are believed to have endured for many generations, and the West Mexican sculptures of male‑female couples are thought to depict lineage founders or divine ancestors. The pairs might also represent marriage and fertility.

Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Seated man and woman (1973.58)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 39.

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Jalisco (West Coast Mesoamerican styles): AAT: 300017200

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Jalisco (state): TGN: 7005586

ceramic (material): AAT: 300235507

paint (coating): AAT: 300015029

slip (clay): AAT: 300010459

slip glaze: AAT: 300015110

clay: AAT: 300010439

resin (organic material): AAT: 300012882

glazing (coating): AAT: 300053914

incising: AAT: 300053847

burnishing (polishing): AAT: 30053869

modeling (forming): AAT: 300053130

coiling (pottery technique): AAT: 300053903

slab method (pottery technique): AAT: 300053905

Formative Period (Preclassic): AAT: 300016973

Preclassic (Archaic / Formative / Mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016967

Late Preclassic Period (Formative): AAT: 300016976

sculpture: AAT: 300047090

figurine: AAT: 300047455

funerary objects: AAT: 300234126

effigies (funerary sculpture): AAT: 300047108

marriage (social construct): AAT: 300055475

fertility: AAT: 300379149

man: AAT: 300025928

women (female humans): AAT: 300025943

male: AAT: 300189559

female: AAT: 300189557

nude: AAT: 300189568

figures: AAT: 300189808

human figures: AAT: 300404114

portrait: AAT: 300015637

sitting (seated): AAT: 300263970

ancestors: AAT: 300255718

genealogies (histories): AAT: 300027015

founders: AAT: 300112017

couple: DMA

hollow (form attribute): AAT: 300163023

Ameca-Zacoalco (West Coast Mesoamerican styles): AAT: 300017201

n.d.: Dr. and Sra. Josué Sáenz, Mexico, D.F. [1], [2]

Until 1973: Edward H. Merrin Gallery, Inc., New York [1], [2]

From 1973: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott and The Eugene McDermott Foundation and Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, purchased from the above [1], [2], [3]

[1] The main source for this provenance is Object Worksheet (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated March 13, 1973, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

Apply to objects where number equals 1973.58