Seated figure known as Xantil. - Lot 392

Seated figure known as Xantil. Hollow polychrome terracotta. Mexico. Mixtec culture, 1300-1521 A.D. Height: 40 cm - Width: 20 cm Broken and glued in many places. Traces of repainting. Traces of roots and deposits visible. CIRAM TL test dated 17/04/2019 concludes that dating is between the 14th and 15th centuries. Provenance: Acquired from Arteprimitivo, New-York Former collection of Marianne and Robert HUBER, New-York and Illinois. Seated divine figure with post-classical Mixtec vocabulary: hollow cylindrical body, raised crouching legs, bent arms, face with open toothed mouth and cruciform headdress with central medallion, with ear-discs; traces of red and green-blue polychromy. The bundled headdress and ear discs indicate elite status and ritual embodiment rather than portraiture. The blue-green color evokes turquoise/precious feathers, a prestige code in Mixteca-Puebla, while the cross at the top refers to the four-direction cosmos. The ensemble - hieratic frontal posture, facial make-up, insignia - is consistent with a cult personification (priest-god), probably intended for domestic worship or a ritual space, rather than for funerary use. Expert in Pre-Columbian Art: Yannick DURAND.