Standing Woman with Painted Face and Body
Unknown artist, Greater Nicoya, Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Standing Woman with Painted Face and Body, 800–1200 CE. Ceramic, 10 ⅞ x 5 ⅝ x 4 ⅜ inches. Denver Art Museum Collection: Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 1995.462.
Female Figure with Baby
Mora Polychrome style
About A.D. 800–1200
Costa Rica, Greater Nicoya region
Earthenware with colored slips
Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 1995.462
The majority of Mora-style ceramic figures portray females, and it is possible that the society that produced them was matrilineal. The largest and most impressive female figures wear broad headdresses and large earspools, and sit atop stools — important symbols of rank and authority. This figure stands in a taut, active pose, and carries an infant on her hip. Body paint in a variety of woven patterns covers much of her face and body, perhaps signaling participation in a social or ritual gathering.
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