Artifacts - South America - stone, pottery, gold, textiles, beads

Pre-Columbian Ceramic

Burnished Female Figurine

With labret / nose decoration

 Manabi / Guangala Culture

Equador

Preclassic period

100 BC to 500 AD

SOLD

 dimensions:

approx 9" high x 4 1/4" wide x 3" deep

Female figure wearing elongated, rounded headdress, labret and nose ring, pierced ears, and what appears  to be shoulder pads or a simple garment draped over her shoulders, probably representing ear flaps from her headdress.  Figure Stands leaning noticeably forward with arms extended, hands out, and legs tightly enclosed by a tight knee length skirt. Skirt is decorated with diagonal linear and zig-zag lines.  

 Drilled through top of head with two air holes in back of arms, probably designed as a flute or ocarina, although I cannot seem to get a consistant tone from the piece. Smooth polished / burnished surface with a contrasting matte finish  in recessed areas.

 

Very Good Condition. Typical wear from age.

Minor scuffing on hands and nose ornament. 

The Guangala culture inhabited the Pacific coast and inland hills in southern Manabí, as well as the peninsula of Santa Elena. The largest towns were built at the juncture of rivers, there being also small villages scattered in the dry forest.  The Guangala people built large networks of earth walled albarradas or ditches to collect the water from the seasonal rains for irrigation.

Guangala ceramics are characterized by the manufacture of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic musical instruments, including ocarinas (small wind instruments with finger holes and a mouthpiece) shaped like young women. Ocarinas were decorated with highly stylized and geometrical designs with polychrome painting and bas-relief. Other ornaments were obtained from the contrast between lusterless and polished surfaces.  Stone and shell ornaments such as nose pendants, necklaces and other ornaments were of widespread use in this culture.

Guangala culture was followed by the Chorerra and Jama Coaque cultures, with some geographic, cultural, and aesthetic overlap.

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