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HOME :
Pre-Columbian Art :
Art of Costa Rica : Galo Polychrome Seated Female Effigy Vessel
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Galo Polychrome Seated Female Effigy Vessel - PF.3355
Origin: Costa Rica
Circa: 500
AD
to 1000
th
Century AD
Dimensions:
10.25" (26.0cm) high
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Terracotta
£9,000.00
Location: UAE
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| Description |
This seated female figure effigy vessel comes
from the Guanacaste-Nicoya polychrome
tradition, the Galo polychrome style. Its mirror-
bright burnished surfaces are technically
unsurpassed by any Pre-Columbian pottery, and
yellows, reds, oranges, creams, maroons, and
blacks of the polychrome decorations are
impressively vivid. Among such sculptures are
the full human figures with elaborate
representations of tattoos or body paint. Such
brilliant polychrome tradition represents an
import ant social dimension; when the northern
trade network that brought jade, slate backed
pyrite mirrors, foreign ceramics, and other luxury
goods, the Nicoyans responded by producing
their own special purpose pottery. Inspired by
northern models, it also incorporated local and
southern elements, forming a dazzling hybrid
style that was traded around Central America and
southern Meso-America in the centuries to
come.
Elaborately decorated with colors and patterns,
this sculpted female sits proudly, like a dignified
noble woman. A fine example of Galo
polychrome figures, she provides a wealth of
ethnographic detail because of the realistic style.
Her ear spools and geometric body painting or
tattooing are all vividly shown. Her almond-
shaped eyes outlined with black paint, her lips
colored with light orange, and her cheeks
enhanced with elaborate crosses, her charming
face has an unforgettable charisma. The same
cross shapes adorning her breasts creates the
visual continuity from the face to the body. Both
of her hands resting on her torso and geometric
patterns decorating the center of her chest, she
looks as if she is holding something important
within her with her face held up straight, this
woman appears regal and goddess-like,
demanding our attention with her physical
presence.
- (PF.3355)
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