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Source Description
Dogs were indigenous to the ancient Americas, the Mexican Hairless being the likely model for the West Mexico effigies. Throughout Mesoamerica they served as companions, hunting partners, underworld guides, and even sources of food. Ceramic portrayals of dogs are particularly numerous in the shaft tombs of West Mexico, placed among the burials' myriad human pottery figures and dishes of food for the journey after death. Most dogs are depicted as plump and docile. As tomb offerings, these fattened versions may have symbolized food for the deceased's arduous underworld voyage. The dark red canine more realistically illustrates the breed's physical characteristics.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
80333
label
Dog Effigy Vessel
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
80333
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Dog Effigy Vessel
description
Dogs were indigenous to the ancient Americas, the Mexican Hairless being the likely model for the West Mexico effigies. Throughout Mesoamerica they served as companions, hunting partners, underworld guides, and even sources of food. Ceramic portrayals of dogs are particularly numerous in the shaft tombs of West Mexico, placed among the burials' myriad human pottery figures and dishes of food for the journey after death. Most dogs are depicted as plump and docile. As tomb offerings, these fattened versions may have symbolized food for the deceased's arduous underworld voyage. The dark red canine more realistically illustrates the breed's physical characteristics.
provenance
Stendahl Galleries, Los Angeles; purchased by John G. Bourne, Santa Fe, New Mexico, between 1940 and 1949; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.
date
100 BC-AD 300
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Ceramics
sculpture (visual works)
vessels
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
25
height
36.3
depth
21.9
dimensionsRaw
H: 9 13/16 x L: 14 5/16 x W: 8 5/8 in. (25 x 36.3 x 21.9 cm)
Source extras
cul
Colima
style
Comala
med
burnished earthenware
creator_ids
16368
collection_ids
AME
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
a51c1b9a93e1b33a
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
08498438082c7f21
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
c391b3b41bbb9f98
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no