GENERAL DESCRIPTION
During the late 2nd millennium BCE, ceramic female figures were a popular theme among the peoples of central Mexico. They often share a number of characteristics including unnatural limbs and distinctive, sometimes abnormal, facial features. Other physical abnormalities appear in the ceramic tradition as well, such as fused body parts or connected heads on a single body, as in this example, though they are more rare. These figures may relate to the idea of duality, as many scholars have argued; alternatively, such differences may have granted these figures more direct access to the supernatural world.
Though there are a wide variety of types and depictions, these female figures are generally interpreted as fertility figurines. In this example the pelvis and hips fuse together into a central leg of the two female figures, similar to conjoined twins. Some figures indicate social status, through hairstyle and ornamentation as seen here, and many of the figures reflect regional traditions. The distorted body proportions and characteristic narrow mouth and eyes of this figure, for instance, are stylistically similar to the "pretty lady" figures from Tlatilco, an early site in the Valley of Mexico contemporaneous to the Olmec culture. A favorite theme for Mesoamerica’s earliest ceramic artists, these types of female figures probably alluded to hopes for human and agricultural fertility.
Elaine Higgins Smith, Digital Collections Content Coordinator, 2016.
Drawn from
- Carol Robbins, Label text [1973.52], A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.
- "Female Figure (1983.424)." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1983.424/. (August 2009).
- Rex Koontz, "Tlatilco Figurines," in Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/early-cultures/tlatilco/a/tlatilco-figurines. Accessed 13 October 2016.
NOTES
1150–550 B.C.E. (noted on TMS), NOT updated by KJones; no culture or period noted.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619
Tlatilco (Central Plateau Mesoamerican styles and periods): AAT: 300017007
Central Plateau Mesoamerican styles: AAT: 300017030
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Tlatilco (inhabited place): TGN: 7433510
Process/materials
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
Historical periods
Formative Period (Preclassic): AAT: 300016973
Preclassic (Archaic / Formative / Mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016967
Early Preclassic period (Formative period / Mesoamerican periods and styles): AAT: 300016970
Individuals
Subject terms
sculpture: AAT: 300047090
figurine: AAT: 300047455
funerary objects: AAT: 300234126
effigies (funerary sculpture): AAT: 300047108
burials: AAT: 300263485
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
standing: AAT: 300239500
female: AAT: 300189557
women (female humans): AAT: 300025943
nude: AAT: 300189568
hairstyles: AAT: 300262903
hair ornaments: AAT: 300209287
earspools: AAT: 300209300
headdresses: AAT: 300046023
circular (shape): AAT: 300263827
round (shape): AAT: 300121969
legs (animal or human components): AAT: 300310192
hips (animal or human components): AAT: 300310191
deformation: AAT: 300072976
physical deformity (condition): DMA
conjoined twins: DMA
twins: AAT: 300263240
duality (concepts): DMA
fertility: AAT: 300379149
supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947
social status: AAT: 300065206
beauty (aesthetic concepts): AAT: 300055821
agriculture (sciences): AAT: 300054463
hollow (form attribute): AAT: 300163023
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
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.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1973.72
Category
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General Description
During the late 2nd millennium BCE, ceramic female figures were a popular theme among the peoples of central Mexico. They often share a number of characteristics including unnatural limbs and distinctive, sometimes abnormal, facial features. Other physical abnormalities appear in the ceramic tradition as well, such as fused body parts or connected heads on a single body, as in this example, though they are more rare. These figures may relate to the idea of duality, as many scholars have argued; alternatively, such differences may have granted these figures more direct access to the supernatural world.
Though there are a wide variety of types and depictions, these female figures are generally interpreted as fertility figurines. In this example the pelvis and hips fuse together into a central leg of the two female figures, similar to conjoined twins. Some figures indicate social status, through hairstyle and ornamentation as seen here, and many of the figures reflect regional traditions. The distorted body proportions and characteristic narrow mouth and eyes of this figure, for instance, are stylistically similar to the "pretty lady" figures from Tlatilco, an early site in the Valley of Mexico contemporaneous to the Olmec culture. A favorite theme for Mesoamerica’s earliest ceramic artists, these types of female figures probably alluded to hopes for human and agricultural fertility.
Elaine Higgins Smith, Digital Collections Content Coordinator, 2016.
Drawn from
- Carol Robbins, Label text [1973.52], A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.
- "Female Figure (1983.424)." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1983.424/. (August 2009).
- Rex Koontz, "Tlatilco Figurines," in Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/early-cultures/tlatilco/a/tlatilco-figurines. Accessed 13 October 2016.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
1150–550 B.C.E. (noted on TMS), NOT updated by KJones; no culture or period noted.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619
Tlatilco (Central Plateau Mesoamerican styles and periods): AAT: 300017007
Central Plateau Mesoamerican styles: AAT: 300017030
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Tlatilco (inhabited place): TGN: 7433510
Process/materials
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
Historical periods
Formative Period (Preclassic): AAT: 300016973
Preclassic (Archaic / Formative / Mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016967
Early Preclassic period (Formative period / Mesoamerican periods and styles): AAT: 300016970
Individuals
Subject terms
sculpture: AAT: 300047090
figurine: AAT: 300047455
funerary objects: AAT: 300234126
effigies (funerary sculpture): AAT: 300047108
burials: AAT: 300263485
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
standing: AAT: 300239500
female: AAT: 300189557
women (female humans): AAT: 300025943
nude: AAT: 300189568
hairstyles: AAT: 300262903
hair ornaments: AAT: 300209287
earspools: AAT: 300209300
headdresses: AAT: 300046023
circular (shape): AAT: 300263827
round (shape): AAT: 300121969
legs (animal or human components): AAT: 300310192
hips (animal or human components): AAT: 300310191
deformation: AAT: 300072976
physical deformity (condition): DMA
conjoined twins: DMA
twins: AAT: 300263240
duality (concepts): DMA
fertility: AAT: 300379149
supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947
social status: AAT: 300065206
beauty (aesthetic concepts): AAT: 300055821
agriculture (sciences): AAT: 300054463
hollow (form attribute): AAT: 300163023
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
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.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
Equals
1973.72
source file
object_notes_3_a-0734.xml.nores