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Clay figure / Female figure

Tall, standing, anthropomorphic figure clutching her abdomen with both hands. The hollow, female sculpture has a rattling ball. There are small, round openings on the soles of the feet and at the navel. Two further, opposing openings appear at the neck, which may have been used for suspension. The pottery was smoothed, slurried, primed, painted and polished. The soles of the feet remained undecorated. The primer and paint are partially eroded. The sculpture has a red-brown base colour, which is painted black-brown and red. The figure's hairstyle is divided into two parts by a vertical skull tonsure. The figure is wearing a red eye mask and a red pubic bandage. Her hands are painted red. The arms, breasts and legs show black and brown motifs. The round and square decorations have a cross in the centre. The back of the pottery remains undecorated. Symbolic significance: Stevenson-Day (1997) interprets the female sculptures of the Galo Policromo group as shamans. Cultural significance: the anthropomorphic figures of the zoned two-coloured ceramics (Rosales Esgrafiado) and the Policromo Antiguo (Galo Policromo group) show great representational realism compared to the sculptures of later ceramic groups (Mora Policromo, variedad Guabal). The Galo and Carillo Policromo groups (800-500d.C.) represent the first truly polychrome ceramics produced in the Gran Nicoya region. Their design (shape, colouring, individual motifs) is strongly reminiscent of the Ulua Policromo group (950-550d.C.). (Künne 2004)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum
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Cataloguing data

Object type
Clay figure / Female figure
Dimensions
Objektmaß: 25,5 x 11,8 x 8,5 cm
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 41596

Provenance and sources

when
Policromo Antiguo (500 - 800)
where
Costa Rica
Guanacaste [Provinz]
Filadelfia [Kanton]
El Viejo [Ort]

who
Lehmann, Walter - Former Possessors

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