About This Artwork

Jalisco
Ameca Valley, Jalisco, Mexico

Storyteller Figure, A.D. 100/800

Ceramic and pigment
55.9 x 55.9 cm (22 x 22 in.)

Estate of Ruth Falkenau, 1989.83

Ceramic figures in energetic poses and with lively expressions were made in the Ameca Valley, Jalisco. Like other West Mexican works of art, they were intended as offerings in tombs. The range of subjects depicted by these sculptures includes gesturing individuals whose hand positions communicated well-established meanings. This sign language has yet to be described and interpreted, but such excited figures may well be recounting legends or myths.

— Permanent collection label




View mobile website