Motherhood is a prominent theme in the iconographic repertoire of the sculptural art of the shaft tombs culture. The majority of its regional stylistic forms boast depictions of women locked in an embrace or accompanied by infants, or appear to be pregnant. Sometimes this state can become confused since obese or robust women were also represented. As regards to those that show pregnancy, abdominal swelling is varied, sometimes it seems as if they are about to give birth and in others the prominence is slight and for correct interpretation it is appropriate that it be detected in the lower abdomen and also take into the position in the body.
This piece can be added to the attributes of motherhood: seated on legs bent backwards with hands on her abdomen. The configuration of this beautiful work of Lagunillas style leaves no doubt about its condition. In the ceramic art of the shaft tomb culture a grand style with multiple variations that correspond to certain areas of origin, from which their names are derived, is identified. San Pedro Lagunillas is a municipality in southern Nayarit; the pieces of this style come from the valleys between the mountains of southwest Nayarit and northwest Jalisco, which run all the way to the coast, and also in the Western Sierra Madre, in sites along the Bolaños canyon.
In turn, the main stylistic modalities consist of variants; six have been distinguished in sculptures from Lagunillas, this figure corresponds to type "B", identified by Hasso von Winning and whose origin seems to be limited to southern Nayarit. Among the features of Lagunillas stands out the prevalence of human images, we only know of a few zoomorphic ones. They are hollow and solid figures, the first can be from a few centimeters to over 70 cm tall; factions are delicate and the body proportions hold certain similarities to natural ones, except for the hands and feet, which are small and synthesized, and arms that appear thin. It is recognized both for pieces with a base coat of cream or light ocher colored engobe, as with others which use red as a base. Rather than the color, what distinguishes the variants lies in the degree of realism and, in particular, the shape of the head.
The features that allow the description of our part in the stylistic sub-variant "B" are: the swooning or virtually nonexistent forehead; the clear distinction between the smooth surface of the face and rough hair generated by numerous crossed linear incisions; a hairline that begins above the nose and draws two curves above the eyes; the oval-shaped face, with the highlighted eyelids and prominent nose; small ears that are projected to the sides; the circular opening in the top of the head and the concave or hemispherical base of the body, which means that the seated position with legs bent back is only suggested. This last feature is distinguished only on the side and rear views of the figure. The exaggerated bulkiness of the lower body also stands out, while it evokes a pot-shaped container or bottle with rounded body.
The woman's face could be described as cartoonish; its oval shape is horizontally wider; most of it is made up of two huge circles enclosing tiny squinting eyes; seen from the front, the nose is very thin, she has a ring as an ornament, which is typical in of the Nayarit styles; after the ring, his mouth appears like a thin and short line that replicates the curve of the ring, as if smiling. The profile of the head exhibits a marked cranial deformation; certainly the reticence of the forehead and chin, the protruding nose and the "smile" reminiscent of the pieces of the Tala-Tonala style of central Jalisco.
The geometric and symbolic body painting of the piece stand out; it is likely that the red base was fixed during initial firing whereas black paint was applied in the embodied designs in positive and false negative in a second one. The white paint was applied after firing; it especially stands out in the nose ring, since it indicates the representation of a shell ring. The midsection of the woman shows a wide band that barely covers the belly in gestation; here a quincunx design is repeated four times, which consists of two pairs of white lines crossed over five circles in white on red over a black rectangular surface; both lines and circles form the Mesoamerican concept of the five regions of the universe: the center and the four cardinal points.
Besides being an image of the surface of the earth, according to the geometric order established by the gods, they symbolize the place of origin, the primordial space from whence humans come and therein recognize a deep consonance with the image of motherhood. Four circular and concentric designs separate the quincunxes and emphasize the idea of the germinal center, which in this case is the same female figure, which occupies the central position of the composition. In addition to this, the concentric circles replicate the scheme based on the architectural complexes called guachimontones, typical of the ceremonial scope of this culture.
