Mayan Seated Fertility Sculpture

Fertility figures are among the oldest sculptures known to man. Primordial, instinctive, such works speak to us in an ancient language. They represent man’s awareness, the human comprehension of the life cycle and the struggle for sustenance and survival. They represent the female ideal: drooping breasts, swollen belly, and wide hips. Such features are symbols of fecundity and motherhood. Early mankind realized that fertility was the difference between reproduction and ultimate extinction. Fertility sculptures are a calm to our fear, they are prayers to gods for continuation. This charming sculpture depicts a woman with a round, swelling stomach. Both her arms rest along the sides of her belly. Her hair has been carefully coiffed and styled and she wears earrings and a beaded necklace, both presumably made of jade, that combined suggest she was a member of the Mayan elite. Her legs are spread open revealing the source of her fecundity. This sculpture represents the ideal woman, a pregnant mother- to-be who, through her powers, will ensure the survival of the people and thus, the continuation of Mayan civilization.