100 BC-AD 300
Earthenware with colored slips, black burial deposits
Overall: 41.5 x 24.9 x 24.7 cm (16 5/16 x 9 13/16 x 9 3/4 in.)
Fiftieth anniversary gift of the Womens Council in honor of the Museum's Seventy-fifth anniversary 1991.20
This figure’s “horn” may be the spire of a conch shell, a reference to fertility.
This figure’s concentrated, otherworldly expression is emphasized by the hornlike element strapped to its forehead. This "horn" may be the spire of a conch shell, which comes from water and, therefore, refers to fertility—likely an important ritual concern of West Mexican chiefs. The element also could represent the "horn of power" worn in some areas of the world by shamans, the spiritual leaders and healers of small, non-industrial societies.
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