Standing male figure "cara sonrientes", ca. 600 - 800 AD · Mexico, Veracruz · ID: 3052985
Description
ceramic, holding a rattle, rest.
The significance of these figures - the only cheerful depictions within the otherwise blood-soaked Olympus of the ancient Mexican pantheon - remains unclear. One hypothesis suggests that they represent young people under the influence of intoxicants who, as part of a fertility ritual, joyfully anticipate their sacrificial death and the associated existence in a better afterlife. Many of these figures were also ritually broken.
The object Standing male figure “cara sonrientes”, ca. 600 - 800 AD with the object ID 3052985 was part of the auction Auction 106 on April 25, 2026, lot number 31 at that time and is currently available for EUR 2,500 in Open sale.
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Comparing literature
Leyenaar, Ted u.a., Von Küste zu Küste, o.O. 1992, p. 125
Notices
This object is subject to the Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Export documents are required for export (subjected to a fee).