Chinesco Style (Type C) Nayarit Terracotta Sculpture of a Seated Man

This effigy male figure sits in a humble position with his arms around his legs. His exaggerated and simplified limbs accentuate the crouching position. The face of this fired clay figure shows the Chinesco style (a flat head, thin eye-slits, and a small mouth), which is one exemplary style from the Naryarit culture. The body is decorated with light orange stripes, which give the figure more volume. Such lines that go across the body surface accentuate each curve created by the figure’s crouching position. Being found from a shaft-tomb, this humble effigy figures also carries the funerary symbolism of Nayarit culture. People of Nayarit culture were obsessed with burial practices and, thus, channeled their artistic energy into making funerary figurines. Such hand-modeled figures were a widespread tradition in the pre-Classic society. This charming clay figure is not only a witness of the funerary ritual but also is the embodiment of the artistic energy of Nayarit culture.