A series of male and female clay figures which were produced from a very early era with highly stylized bodies that highlight their nudity. Even so, special care was taken with many of them to represent elaborate body designs painted black and in some cases with tar.
The Huasteca, an enormous territory in the east of Mesoamerica whose cultural uniformity comes from a proven ethnic and linguistic unity, extends between the sea at Tamaulipas and the mountains of Hidalgo and Querétaro. Crossed by impetuous rivers and contrasting climates, it was the site of the emergence of multiple Pre-Columbian settlements, many of a surprising antiquity that since ancient times have witnessed great political and social complexity. Both in the extremely hot lowlands and the winding mountains, not only do they share a common ancestral language but also have structured their own symbolic universe based on early rituals and human sacrifices, the latter offered on ceremonial occasions to appease the gods.
They modeled entire groups of figurines in silica-rich clay for centuries, all focused on the formation of the human body and in the symbolism of the ritual ball game. An enormous quantity of the figurines come from looting activities which has caused us to irreversibly lose the contexts in which they were found; it is likely that they were connected with offerings or burial rites, but they are so numerous that it would not be judicious to exclude their inclusion in domestic cults of immemorial origin.
These two exquisitely made pieces are likely from the same place, a burial offering or perhaps they were deposited together on the occasion of some ritual. What is certain is that they are a testimony to very ancient activities that must correspond to the Formative period (approx. 300-0 B.C.) The taller one is a typical female representation with broad hips and large breasts. On the legs and from the waist can be seen curved linear designs that extend to the abdomen. On the shoulders and around the arms can be seen straight line and dot motifs; the paint is a dark brown color, the same as that used on the headdresses.
The care taken in modeling the headdresses and the representation of the ear decorations is noticeable in both figurines. The second piece may be a male figure, which is not nearly as decorated with body designs and barely shows bracelets painted onto the arms and legs. The pieces have a highly polished finish, almost burnished, and the portrayal of the facial characteristics is almost identical in both, so similar that it would not be surprising to learn that the two figurines were made by hands of the same potter.
A series of male and female clay figures which were produced from a very early era with highly stylized bodies that highlight their nudity. Even so, special care was taken with many of them to represent elaborate body designs painted black and in some cases with tar.
