1968.40 Elliptical bottle with human face (Guanajuato, Mexico, West Mexico, Chupicuaro style)

The preclassic cultures of West Mexico occupied the modern states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima, where artisans produced a variety of ceramic figures in distinctive regional styles. This vessel is from Late Preclassic (Late Formative) Guanajuato, a western state of Mexico. The geometric patterns and neutral color palette identify this bottle as Chupicuaro, a style that typically unifies form and function. In this example, the human face contours to the elliptical bean-shaped vessel, while the spout also comprises the sprouting bean form. The bold geometric patterns cover the face and extend to the body of the vessel, possibly signifying body paint, though no further appendages or costume details are indicated.

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Chupicuaro (West Coast Mesoamerican styles): DMA

West Coast Mesoamerican styles: AAT: 300017196

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Guanajuato (state): TGN: 7005584

Chupícuaro (inhabited place): TGN: 7354807

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

relief (sculpture techniques): AAT: 300053622

Formative Period (Preclassic): AAT: 300016973

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

Late Preclassic Period (Formative): AAT: 300016976

sculpture: AAT: 300047090

vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015

funerary objects: AAT: 300234126

effigies (funerary sculpture): AAT: 300047108

face masks: AAT: 300262834

faces (animal or human components): AAT: 300251798

face: DMA

human figures: AAT: 300404114

elliptical (geometric shape): AAT: 300263820

round (shape): AAT: 300121969

bean (seed): AAT: 300011863

growth: AAT: 300055136

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

geometric patterns: AAT: 300165213

lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279

squares (geometric figures): AAT: 300055637

diamonds (motifs): AAT: 300009791

zigzags (geometric patterns): AAT: 300165028

crosses (motifs): AAT: 300010044,

spouts (container components): AAT: 300197224

hollow (form attribute): AAT: 300163023

n.d.: Camer Galleries, New York [1]

Until 1968: Collection of Stanley Marcus, Dallas, purchased from the above [1], [2], [3]

From 1968: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Marcus Foundation [1], [2], [3], [4]

[1] The main source for this provenance is a letter from Stanley Marcus to Merrill C. Rueppel, Director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (dated December 26, 1968, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The main source for this provenance is a letter from Merrill C. Rueppel, Director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, to Stanley Marcus (dated December 27, 1968, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated March 04, 1969, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[4] 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 1968.40