Visitors may wonder what the purpose of displaying this vast collection of ceramic figurines originating from the Huasteca is. If they have gotten to this point in the tour without having found answers in this respect, perhaps this is the time to focus our attention on the details of the faces, and the particularities of the artistic construction. If there is something that draws our attention to this enormous quantity of clay figures it would certainly be the many formal similarities. To tell the truth, this is something that could be cause for surprise, but in reality it is directly related to the acquisition of the complete lots of such unique pieces.
After carefully observing them it can only be concluded that an important portion of them was bought from the same person who found them in the same deposits of the lower basin of the Panuco River and dug them up until there were really none left. It is clear to me that this practice generated a significant degree of destruction in the several sites affected, but if we look carefully, we realize that a significant proportion of these pieces must come from locations near the city of Tampico.
These consist of figurines made over a long period of time, these being absolutely consistent with the same pottery model, and that are progressively transformed without departing from the same cultural tradition. Whoever it was that snatched them from their sites of origin found the most recent specimens in the upper layers of his makeshift excavation, and the most ancient ones in the deeper layers. Certainly there are differences in all of them, but it is clear that a significant number of these figurines share the same clay and the same ways of modeling the faces.
Of course, not all of the pieces conform to this supposition, there are some others made with very different clays and fired in ovens that generate more heat, but this does not prevent us from being able to trace the history of the Huastecan pottery from northern Veracruz from the basis of this amazing collection at some point in the future.
Our figurine is once more a woman, now in a sitting position but wearing a short skirt, which is unusual, that is lavishly decorated with incisions and a wide sash, and finished with a clay cord. She is wearing her hair in an upwards style with a tiara that fastens it to her head. The necklace made of two rows and the various bracelets stand out.
Visitors may wonder what the purpose of displaying this vast collection of ceramic figurines originating from the Huasteca is. If they have gotten to this point in the tour without having found answers in this respect, perhaps this is the time to focus our attention on the details of the faces, and the particularities of the artistic construction. If there is something that draws our attention to this enormous quantity of clay figures it would certainly be the many formal similarities. To tell the truth, this is something that could be cause for surprise, but in reality it is directly related to the acquisition of the complete lots of such unique pieces.
