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HOME :
Pre-Columbian Art :
Art of Ecuador : Chorrera Terracotta Sculpture of a Standing Woman
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Chorrera Terracotta Sculpture of a Standing Woman - PF.2398
Origin: Ecuador
Circa: 1100
BC
to 300
BC
Dimensions:
13" (33.0cm) high
x 5.5" (14.0cm) wide
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Terracotta
$6,000.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
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The Pre-Columbian cultures of Ecuador are
among the oldest in South America and among
the first to master the art of pottery. Although we
know little about the peoples themselves or their
traditions, historians have been able to piece
together a picture of life in Ancient Ecuador
thanks in part to the art and artifacts left behind.
The culture of Valdivia created some of the
oldest known works of art in the Americas.
Situated along the coastal strip of Ecuador, the
Valdivians established a thriving society that
flourished for around two thousand years (from
approximately 4000 to 1500 B.C.). Today they
are famed for their small fertility figures,
believed to be the earliest representational works
of art in the Americas, first carved from stone,
later formed from terracotta.
Hundreds of years later after the Valdivians
disappear from the archaeological record
appears another culture to which the name
Chorrera has been attached (lasting from circa
1100-300 B.C.). Little is known about this
culture; however, it is significant for its
widespread geographical reach. As such, their
artistic style greatly influenced those diverse
cultures that began to emerge in the final
centuries of the Chorrera period, a time
historians have labeled the Period of Regional
Development.
This female figure
from the Chorrera period (contemporary with the
Chavin of Peru and the Tlatilco in Mexico)
demonstrates the Ecuadorian craftsmen refined
skill at manipulating the medium and his creative
ability to express heightened spirituality and
power. A standing female figure faces an
aquiline nose and us with downcast coffee-bean
eyes. Rounded ear ornaments and an incised
collar with a triangular pendant frame her
sculpted face. A flaring rounded headdress
echoes the overall shape of her body, with its
rounded shoulders and short, stocky legs.
Artistically rendered incised and punctuated
geometric motifs on her garments combine with
the incised pattern on her headdress to give this
striking figure a splendid sense of balance and
harmony. Her finely burnished brown finish
further evidences the skilled artistry that was at
work to create this masterpiece of Ancient
Ecuadorian art.
- (PF.2398)
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