Register Auction 105
Zemanek-Münster

Laughing figure "sonriente", ca. 600 - 800 AD ·  Mexico, Gulf Coast, Veracruz · ID: 3052501

Starting price EUR 800
Estimated price EUR 1,500
Provenance
Sotheby’s, New York, 11 May 1991, lot 396
Size
H: 19 cm
H: 7.5 inch

Description

fired clay, remnants of white and blue pigment, serving as a figural pipe and rattle, rest., base

The peculiar smile of many Veracruz figures may possibly be attributed to the intake of a specific drug said to induce intense feelings of euphoria, reportedly administered to individuals who knew they were destined to die as sacrificial victims.


Comparing literature

Hoffmann, Ulrich (Hg.), Frauen des alten Amerika in Kult und Alltag, Stuttgart 2001, p. 212 ff.


Notices

This object is subject to the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Export documents are required for export (subjected to a fee).


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