2000.238.FA Crouching male figure (Colima, Mexico, West Mexico)

Small carvings of human figures are a common sculptural theme among the various cultural groups of both Central and West Mexico. Lapidary artists favored a variety of precious materials for their small-scale sculptures, including alabaster, obsidian, jade, serpentine, and other varieties of greenstone. This is a fine example of stone carving from Late Preclassic (Late Formative) Colima. This region is known for a wide variety of sculptural styles from multiple cultural groups that inhabited this area of Western Mexico, though it is best known for its distinctive ceramics. It is believed that many of these small-scale carvings were included among funerary goods of the elite.

This figurine depicts a crouching man with hips wide and legs spread. His genitals are exposed, and he appears to be wearing earspools and a caplike headdress, though further costume details are absent. This birthing pose appears in contemporaneous Olmec art often as the embodiment of creation, and alternatively the pose is similar to that of bloodletting rituals in Classic Maya art. It is not known whether there may be a similar association in this image, but it may represent transformation. When viewed from the rear, the pose appears very similar to a frog or toad. Considering the human features are only subtlety indicated, this image could thus represent the merging of human and animal characteristics, possibly the transformation into a supernatural form, in which the figure channels the power of such creatures.

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Colima (West Coast Mesoamerican styles): AAT: 300017197

West Coast Mesoamerican styles: AAT: 300017196

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Colima (state/Mexico): TGN: 7016644

stone: AAT: 300011176

albite (plagioclase/feldspar): AAT: 300209712

carving: AAT: 300053149

incising: AAT: 300053847

polishing (finishing): AAT: 300053867

drillwork (sculpture technique): AAT: 300186211

Formative Period (Preclassic): AAT: 300016973

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

Late Preclassic Period (Formative): AAT: 300016976

sculpture: AAT: 300047090

effigies (funerary sculpture): AAT: 300047108

funerary objects: AAT: 300234126

human figures: AAT: 300404114

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

male: AAT: 300189559

nude: AAT: 300189568

sitting (seated): AAT: 300263970

crouching: DMA

births (events): AAT: 300069672

pose: AAT: 300067390

bloodletting (self-sacrifice / ritual): DMA

blood: AAT: 300011797

cosmology (cosmological / disciplines): AAT: 300054294

creation (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300069002

transformations (concepts / processes): DMA

supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947

animals: DMA

amphibians (Amphibia class): AAT: 300249665

frogs (animals): AAT: 300250018

toads: AAT: 300252284

tombs: AAT: 300005926

burials: AAT: 300263485

miniature (size): AAT: 300121995

green (color): AAT: 300128438

shiny (shine): AAT: 300065244

Until 1970: Teochita, Inc., New York [1]

1970-2000: Juanita Bromberg, purchased from purchased from the above [1]

From 2000: Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts, The Alfred and Juanita Bromberg Collection, bequest of Juanita K. Bromberg [1], [2], [3], [4]

[1] The main source for this provenance was existing provenance information in TMS. No other supporting information found in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object Files. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted. 

[2] The main source for this provenance is Deed of Gift from estate of Juanita K. Bromberg (dated November 02, 1999, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The main source for this provenance is Committee on Collections Record (dated February 01, 2000, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[4] The Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit corporation created as a title-holding entity to serve the people of Dallas but to operate independently of the City. The Dallas Museum of Art (at its own cost) is responsible for the care, storage, insurance, conservation and maintenance of the collection, and agrees to maintain the highest museum standards in the management and handling of the Foundation’s collection. The title to all works of art purchased or otherwise acquired by the Foundation for the Arts is retained by the Foundation.

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