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Clay figure / Female figure

Large, seated, anthropomorphic figure with crossed legs. The hollow, female sculpture has an oversized head and rattle balls. She rests both hands on her thighs. There are small, round openings at the navel and neck. The object has been smoothed, sanded, primed, painted and polished. The polish 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 cheeks, breasts, upper arms and ankles are painted with black-brown geometric motifs. The clothed figure wears a sleeveless cloak on his chest and back, with a red St Andrew's cross on the front and back. Symbolic meaning: Stevenson-Day (1997) interprets the female sculptures of the Galo Policromo group as shamans. The oköm of the historical bribri painted crosses on their chests and arms to ward off transcendent beings during the burial ceremonies they presided over (Bozzoli de Wille 1979, 1982). Cultural significance: the anthropomorphic figures of the zoned two-coloured ceramics (Rosales Esgrafiado) and the Policromo Antiguo (Galo Policromo group) come mainly from burials. Compared to the sculptures of later ceramic groups (Mora Policromo, variedad Guabal), they show great representational realism. 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: 14,8 x 10 x 11,8 cm
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 41598

Provenance and sources

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

who
Lehmann, Walter - Former Possessors

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