Standing Female Figure

ClassificationsSculpture

Culture Remojadas

Date400-900 CE

Made AtVeracruz, Mexico, Central America, North America

MediumCeramic and black pitch

Dimensions19 × 11 × 3 in. (48.3 × 27.9 × 7.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of M. and H. Lindsay

Object number2014.27.1

DescriptionMonumental figural sculptures are some of the most well-known works of art from the Remojadas culture and archaeological sites. Figures of this type are represented standing with their arms held up in a ceremonial or dancing gesture, or with their arms positioned down close to their thighs. Many of the figures are portrayed wearing headpieces with chin straps or short capes and have portions of their face and body painted black.

While some scholars believe that these figures represent deities, this cannot definitively be proven. Others believe that the figures are more likely to represent priestess and/or high-ranking members of society. Some of these sculptures have been found in various broken pieces. As a result, the bodies may sometimes be reconstructed with ornaments, arms, legs or heads that do not belong to the original sculpture, making it a difficult task to categorize them chronologically and stylistically. It has been suggested that these figures were ritually shattered and deposited within tombs and pyramids as a type of ancestor worship.

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