The Colima are part of a group of archaeological
cultures – known almost purely from their
artworks – referred to as the Western Mexico
Shaft Tomb (WMST) tradition. There are many
distinct groups within this agglomeration, and
their relationships are almost totally obscure due
to the lack of contextual information.
All of the cultures encompassed under the WMST
nomenclature were in the habit of burying their
dead in socially-stratified burial chambers at the
base of deep shafts, which were in turn often
topped by buildings. Originally believed to be
influenced by the Tarascan people, who were
contemporaries of the Aztecs,
thermoluminescence has pushed back the dates
of these groups over 1000 years. Although the
apogee of this tradition was reached in the last
centuries of the 1st millennium BC, it has its
origins over 1000 years earlier at sites such as
Huitzilapa and Teuchitlan, in the Jalisco region.
Little is known of the cultures themselves,
although preliminary data seems to suggest that
they were sedentary agriculturists with social
systems not dissimilar to chiefdoms. These
cultures are especially interesting to students of
Mesoamerican history as they seem to have been
to a large extent outside the ebb and flow of
more aggressive cultures – such as the Toltecs,
Olmecs and Maya – in the same vicinity. Thus
insulated from the perils of urbanization, they
developed very much in isolation, and it
behooves us to learn what we can from what they
have left behind.
The arts of this region are enormously variable
and hard to understand in chronological terms,
mainly due to the lack of context. The most
striking works are the ceramics, which were
usually placed in graves, and do not seem to
have performed any practical function (although
highly decorated utilitarian vessels are also
known). It is possible that they were designed to
depict the deceased – they are often very
naturalistic – although it is more probable that
they constituted, when in groups, a retinue of
companions, protectors and servants for the
hereafter. More abstract pieces – such as
reclinatorios – probably had a more esoteric
meaning that is hard to recapture from the piece.
The current piece falls within the Colima style,
which is perhaps the most unusual stylistic
subgroup of this region. Characterized by a
warm, red glaze, the figures are very measured
and conservative, while at the same time
displaying a great competence of line. They are
famous for their sculptures of obese dogs, which
seem to have been fattened for the table. Colima
reclinatorios are also remarkable, curvilinear yet
geometric assemblages of intersecting planes
and enigmatic constructions in the semi-
abstract.
This dramatic work of art is an extraordinary
example of a highly distinctive type of Colima
effigy vessel known as a canasta basket by the
ancient people of Western Mexico who created it.
The receptacle portion of the vessel, which
possibly functioned as an incensario, is formed
by the backs of the heads of opposite facing
nude male figures whose abbreviated bodies and
legs serve as a tetra pod support for the vessel.
These imposing figures, possibly representing
the ancient rain God Tlaloc, are made even more
startling by the accompaniment of twin two
headed snakes who project from the upper
portion of one of the deities heads. The snake
bodies then proceed to intertwine above the
God’s head and end with their opposing
serpentine heads resting against the vessels
large basket handle. With their exaggerated
standing positions, we can almost imagine these
dual images of the God Tlaloc positioned over
Tlalocan, the paradise of the rain god. Here is
the heaven to which those who have drowned or
otherwise died by water are delivered a paradise
where human spirits spend an idyllic afterlife
among flowers, butterflies, and other heavenly
delights. Clearly, the unearthly qualities of
Tlaloc translate most powerfully in this vessel,
revealing the spiritual beliefs of a ancient culture
and their ability to translate those beliefs into
timeless works of art.
