On view
Double-faced female figure,
1200–900 BCE
Tlatilco
Although the key food plants of Mesoamerica—maize, beans, and squash—were domesticated by 5000 B.C., settled village life only became widespread by around 2000 B.C. As the Mesoamerican lifestyle grew increasingly sedentary, artists began to produce ceramic objects, including vessels and small figurines, in a variety of localized styles. The site of Tlatilco, in the Valley of Mexico, is known for its distinctive figurines, particularly the famous “pretty ladies” that were found in abundance in burials. In addition to these local forms, Tlatilco objects include vessels carved with stylized motifs as well as figurines with slit eyes and downturned mouths—belying awareness of the burgeoning Olmec civilization of the Gulf Coast.
More Context
Didactics
The site of Tlatilco, in the western portion of the Valley of Mexico, is well known for its distinctive figurines, which were among the earliest produced in Mesoamerica. This example is prototypical of a variety often referred to as "pretty ladies." Characteristically, the figurine is completely nude, revealing an exaggerated contrast in proportions, from heavy thighs and hips to stumpy feet and a wasp waist. The short arms extend away from the body in a pose that has led to the additional designation as "dancers." Tlatilco figurines document a fascination with physical deformities, the most common being two-headed or fused-head females. The works may depict an extremely rare deformity known as diprosopus, literally "two-faced" conjoined twins (almost always stillborn), who would have struck Tlatilco natives as otherworldly and supernatural. Diprosopus imagery was probably implemented to symbolize duality, a fundamental concept ubiquitous to Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican religions.
Information
1200–900 BCE
North America, Mexico, Mexico, D.F., Central Mexico
By April, 1967, Gillett G. Griffin (1928-2016), Princeton, NJ [1]; 1999, gift of Gillett G. Griffin to the Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] According to a dated slide (GG90003146) in the Griffin archive.
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Frances Pratt and Carlo T. E. Gay, Ceramic figures of ancient Mexico: Guerrero, México, Guanajuato, Michoacán, 1600 B.C.-300 A.D. (Graz: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, 1979).
, illus., fig. 21 - Gerald Berjonneau, Emile Deletaille, and Jean-Louis Sonnery, Rediscovered Masterpieces of Mesoamerica: Mexico-Guatemala-Honduras (Boulogne: Editions Arts, 1985)., cat. no. 380 (illus.)
- Michael D. Coe et al., The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership (Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum, 1996), cat. no. 246b, p. 324 (illus.)
- Jill Guthrie, ed., In celebration: works of art from the Collections of Princeton Alumni and Friends of The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 1997)., p. 151, cat. no. 147 (illus.)
- Gordon Bendersky, "Tlatilco Sculptures, Diprosopus, and the Emergence of Medical Illustrations," Perspectives in Biologly and Medicine 43, no. 4 (2000): 477-501., fig. 2, pp. 477–501 (illus.)
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1999," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 59, no. 1/2 (2000): p. 70-101., p. 79
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 135 (illus.)
- Richard Schlagman and Phaidon Press, The Art Museum (London; New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 2011)., fig. 6, p. 105 (illus.)
- Michael D. Coe and Rex Koontz, Mexico from the Olmecs to the Aztecs, 7th edition (London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 2013)., fig. 22, p. 46 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 135
- Deborah Aaronson, Diane Fortenberry, and Rebecca Morrill, Body of Art (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2015).
