PRECOLUMBIAN ART : INCLUDING A SELECTION OF ... - Lempertz

219
TEOTIHUACAN GREYWARE TECOMATE
EARLY CLASSIC
Ca. A. D. 150-250
Of unusual form and size, the hemispherical body standing on three
small feet, covered in an overall grey-black slip with a deep punctate
surface.
Diameter 22.2 cm
Provenance
Gerdes Gallery, Munich, 1980
German Private Collection
218
Literature
Keysers, Grosses Antiquitätenlexikon, Pre-Columbian Art, Munich,
1980, pg. 405, illus.
Cf. Laurette Sejourne, Arqueologia de Teotihuacan, 1966, fi g. 104
€ 1 500 – 2 500
218
VERACRUZ STANDING FIGURE
OF A DEITY
LATE CLASSIC
Ca. A. D. 550-950
Possibly a representation of a late Mayan
Earth goddess, such as the Goddess O
who might have evolved into the Aztec
Tlazolteotl, an Earth Mother goddess of
human fertility and of sexuality as well as
ritual cleansing, the youthful face with lips
parted as if in speech, holding the remains
of a staff (?) in the outstretched hand
and a shield decorated with a monster’s
mask with a goggle eye surrounded with
feathers and jade ornaments, wearing a
patterned loincloth and belt with a shell,
a thick collar and elaborate headdress
incorporating a monster’s head, rosette
and feathers.
Height 60 cm
Provenance
Laue Gallery, Munich, 1995
Cf. Ancient Art of the Veracruz, fi g. 82-83
The divinity adorned with some of the
diagnostic attributes (snail shell, broom,
and shield) Tlazoteotl may have also had
a Huastec origin from the Gulf Coast. In
the Aztec period she is goddess of lechery
and unlawful love. It is said when a man
confessed before her, everything was
shown. It was Tlazolteotl who inspired
vicious desires, and who likewise forgave
and cleaned away the defi lement through
steam baths.
The paraphernalia laden deity who assisted
midwives as well as diviners is the personifi
cation of the transformative nature of
Woman.
€ 2 500 – 4 500