Nayarit Human Effigy Vessel, 300 BCE - 300 CE
Terracotta
4.25 x 5.5
PF.1925
Further images
There is a surrealistic charm about this little vessel, left long ago as a tomb offering. The body of the pot is pleasingly round, adorned with a starry sky of...
There is a surrealistic charm about this little vessel, left long ago as a tomb offering. The body of the pot is pleasingly round, adorned with a starry sky of white dots. The human head that grows organically from the body may represent the deceased, or the person who left the gift, or merely a guardian spirit. It reminds us how the essentials of human existence--life, death and their attendant passions--have altered very little with time.