Male Figure Strapped to a Pallet, c. 300-400 A.D.
West Mexico Shaft Tomb culture; Jalisco, Me…

Figure Strapped to a Board

ClassificationsSculpture

Culture West Mexican Shaft Tomb

Date300-400 CE

Made AtJalisco, Mexico, Central America, North America

MediumCeramic

Dimensions4 3/8 × 7 1/8 × 2 3/4 in. (11.1 × 18.1 × 7 cm)

Credit LineBowers Museum General Acquisition Fund Purchase

Object number2001.61.1

DescriptionScene in terracotta of a patient strapped to a sick bed. The bed rests on four supports and is characterized by two narrow canopies. The patient's head lies between two supports. The body is bound to the bed by three straps, two across the arms, one across the chest and one across the knees. The bed is enclosed at each end but open along the sides. Covered in mottled reddish gray slip.

Several theories exist as to precisely what is being depicted by such small West Mexican sculptures in addition to that of a sick person awaiting a shaman's attention, including: a deceased person strapped to a bier with head held in place, and an infant on a cradleboard. Such an item would be placed within a shaft-tomb with other funerary sculpture and ceremonial items.

On View

Not on view

Collections