Standing female figure
Standing female figure
Standing female figure
Standing female figure

On view

Art of the Ancient Americas

Standing female figure,

1000–1470

Chancay
Late Intermediate Period to Late Horizon
2020-372
Many Chancay ceramics are notable for their simplicity. Anthropomorphic examples can have rather distinctive personalities despite their hasty facture. The original meanings and functions of these objects remain murky, in part due to the looting that has destroyed archaeological contexts. The majority of the anthropomorphic ceramics represent women. Those shown standing with outstretched arms have unadorned bodies and modeling that hints at basic anatomical features. Slip-paint on the faces and heads likely represents face paint and headwear. Many of these ceramics have punctures along the top of the head, indicating that additional adornments were likely attached. The body of the ceramic figure in the form of a vessel is decorated with fields of red and brown, suggesting textile garments, elaborate headgear, and large ear ornaments.

Information

Title
Standing female figure
Dates

1000–1470

Medium
Ceramic with white slip and brown and red slip-paint
Dimensions
52.7 × 27.9 × 19 cm (20 3/4 × 11 × 7 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Peter Jay Sharp, Class of 1952, Fund
Object Number
2020-372
Place Made

South America, Peru, Central coast

Culture
Chancay
Period
Late Intermediate period
Type
figurines
Materials
slip, ceramic
Subject
women, headdresses, figures (representations)

Before 1969, John L. (1926-2016) and Sue (1928-2005) Tishman, New York (P10) [1]; 2007, John and Sue Tishman sold to private collector, New York [2]; November 27, 2020, private collection, New York, sold to Princeton University Art Museum.

Notes:
[1] The Tishmans assigned numbers to works in their collection, whereby lower-numbered objects were acquired prior to higher-numbered objects. The numbers changed over time as works were donated or sold from the collection. A series of appraisals of the collection produced by Robert Sonin, copies of which are in the curatorial file and date as early as 1970, list this object as P10. Another work on the list, numbered P31 and P35 in different versions, was exhibited and published in 1969, providing a terminus ante quem by which the proposed object was in the Tishman collection.
[2] As per letter from John L Tishman to private collection. Copy in curatorial file

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