The excellent preservation of numerous hollow ceramic figures, including some half a meter or more long and just as high, has only been possible because they were burial objects. This is doubly true in the case of tombs, such as the shaft tombs of the West, which are closed chambers that kept air inside and were not filled with earth or stones. The kind of rigid tepetate (compacted soil) bubble formed by the excavation protected all that was placed inside. It is customary to call "offerings" all of the objects placed in a tomb, but only some are. Actually, what we find in Mesoamerican tombs and shaft tombs in particular are different zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures, images of gods, ancestors, accompanying relatives. Also there are usually dishes and vessels, which were surely receptacles for the actual offerings themselves.
This fantastic representation of a sitting feline reminds us a little, for their size, the roundness of their forms, in the discreet grace of its stance, of the famous dogs found in different tombs, also in Colima. Explaining the presence of the feline in the tomb is, however more difficult. Indeed, dogs belong to the burial context because they represent part of the family group of the deceased or of their home environment. We also know that, at least for Post-Classic cultures, the dog was associated with the idea of the journey of the soul of the deceased to the world of the dead; therefore the dog was a natural companion in a tomb. The jaguar is not a familiar animal; its presence can be explained in of other religious and magical ideas.
Firstly, the jaguar was seen as an animal from the inside of the Earth, the caves, the dark night side of the world. But it was also an animal associated with some individuals or groups of individuals of Mesoamerican society: the jaguar was related to military activity and there were corps of specialized warriors called jaguars, whose combat uniform was the jaguar skin. Also, the jaguar is associated with the priesthood, and especially the cult of the rain god. Finally, the jaguar was one of the animals in which most often were embodied the wizards with the force of Nahuals, who became jaguars thanks to their magical powers. Some rulers with special powers also ritually assimilated the jaguar in some ceremonies, or had the power of Nahuals and took the form of the feline.
On the technique of making this piece, it is important to note the use of two engobes, one black and one red, superimposed. Wax may have been used to shape the spots by covering the piece with the second slip. The burnishing gave the figure a semi-glossy finish.
The excellent preservation of numerous hollow ceramic figures, including some half a meter or more long and just as high, has only been possible because they were burial objects. This is doubly true in the case of tombs, such as the shaft tombs of the West, which are closed chambers that kept air inside and were not filled with earth or stones. The kind of rigid tepetate (compacted soil) bubble formed by the excavation protected all that was placed inside. It is customary to call "offerings" all of the objects placed in a tomb, but only some are. Actually, what we find in Mesoamerican tombs and shaft tombs in particular are different zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures, images of gods, ancestors, accompanying relatives. Also there are usually dishes and vessels, which were surely receptacles for the actual offerings themselves.
