Duck-shaped vessel

In the wide range of stylistic forms of ceramic art from the culture of shaft tombs, the so-called Comala offers the largest number of animal shapes; standing out from among them is the diversity in each of the multiple species, which indicates the artists' deep knowledge of both their anatomy and behavior such that, despite the characteristic monochrome of this style, one is able to identify subspecies, perhaps gender, age ranges and seasonal features. It should be emphasized that this wide repertoire of fauna shows a certain selection determined by the cultural values that were attributed to them, in this case, it is not a catalog of the species the ancient inhabitants of the valley of Colima coexisted with, as there are countless animals that weren't depicted.

For those that were, it is necessary to consider their symbolism, mainly in connection with burials and the underworld, because these works were predominantly offered up to the dead in underground burials of the shaft and chamber variety. After dogs, ducks is one of the most frequently found species; they can be seen as sculptures, engravings and paintings; certain elements, especially the beak, are also recognized in the attire of those presiding over a ritual as their alter ego or nahual.

The richness of their configurations stand out; one can see individuals, couples or families with their young; they can be standing, or a lack of legs suggesting that they are floating in the water; the beak is either open or closed; sometimes they have longitudinal protrusions that indicate crests; our duck has a little one, it is likely to be of the Mergus genre, also known as diving ducks or divers, which are apparently common in the Comala style.

They were most likely hunted and served as food for humans; one possibility is that in this regard the sculptures that represent them accompanied the dead in their tombs: in the Mesoamerican world view, physical death did not mean a definitive end, and in their supernatural life they would require supplies. In connection with such religious beliefs archaeological records in these sites report the abundance of vessels containing substances and findings of skeletal remains of ducks, among other edible species.

The western region of Mexico was a favorable environment for waterfowl as lake basins abounded, thus the polysemy of the duck is concerned with water bodies and the celestial level. Ducks are generally linked to the underworld and the wind deity called Ehécatl in náhuatl; as explained by Gabriel Espinosa, the wind, like the water, has its origin in the lower stratum of the cosmos and from there flows into the upper levels. The iconographic study of ducks needs to be expanded into their use in everyday life and ritual symbolism; as well as the abundance of species, the variety of habits and areas of permanent or temporary residence in the case of migratory species; one of the ethnohistorical sources that realizes the complexity of the topic is book XI of the Florentine Codex.

Finally, it is worth pausing to contemplate the elevated artistic qualities of the sculpture: the burnishing is perfect and geometric volumes are seemingly simple, we detect subtle curves that replicate the anatomy of the bird: the body is not spherical, its shape narrows at the tail, is wider in the middle, both in the longitudinal and transverse part, and boasts a protruding chest; seen from above, a slight sinking indicates the spine and lower down an embossed triangle makes up the tail; the angles in the legs correspond to the ts and the inwardly pointed tips make reference to the difficulty of walking; the tubular shape that is seen on the right may function as a spout since the work is hollow; however, there is no guarantee that this would indeed serve as a vessel; what is certain is that it is a distinctive stylistic feature of the Comala;  with respect to the color, the sections painted in dark red on the neck and chest and "spout" draw our attention.