Standing Female Figure

Unknown

1st century · Ceramic · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Imposing by virtue of its size, nudity, and outsized legs with exaggerated, arched feet, this female figure is sculpted in a style known as San Sebastián. The hollow figure is highly decorated, including an elaborate hairstyle indicated by incisions. She wears an appliqued headband composed of two ropes, each of which has four symmetrical sets of four punctures; the band encircles an oval-shaped air vent on the crown of her head. Carved, open eyes painted white along with her open, sculpted mouth revealing incised teeth, make the figure’s expression appear alert. Appliqued earrings with five to six loops are suspended from each earlobe, and she wears an elaborate three-strand necklace modeled in clay from which a five-piece appliqued ornament is suspended in front. Fifteen appliqued pellets, set in a symmetrical pattern, adorn each shoulder. The sculpture retains its burnished surfaces slipped in red, gold, and pink. Traces of checkered patterns, possibly in the resist technique, suggest body paint or tattooing, though the surface has been blackened with manganese dioxide deposits from the original burial context.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st century

Medium

Ceramic

Culture

San Sebastián

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

Gift of The Andrall and Joanne Pearson Collection, 2005