Monumental Mayan Moon Goddess

Pre-Columbia, Maya Territories, Guatemala, Pacific coast, Escuintla, Tiquisate region, ca. 550 to 900 CE. An endearing terracotta portrait of a seated woman holding a sleeping child in her lap. Though bare-chested, the ancient female is otherwise elaborately adorned with huge, square earspools, a bulbous headdress with a ribbon-like adornment, and a beaded necklace that matches that of her child. A series of circles, perhaps intended as ceremonial scarification, adorn her shoulder. This figure likely represents the moon goddess, who was also worshipped by the Maya as a patroness of fertility and childbirth. A unique example of Tiquisate artistry and the timeless importance of motherhood! Size: 10.9" W x 15.3" H (27.7 cm x 38.9 cm)

Provenance: ex-Marc Amiguet Schmitt estate, Amiguet's Ancient Art, Evansville, Indiana, USA, Marc acquired around 2008.

Originally in a collection owned by Armand Labbe, Curator of Pre-Columbian and Ethnographic Art at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, California. An author of a few major references on Pre-Columbian art, including

"Colombia Before Columbus" of which most collectors of PC are aware. When he unfortunately passed away, his closest companion inherited his collection and it joined her own collection. She was Susan Lehrer, the Pre-Columbian Appraiser in Los Angeles. When she passed her son sold it to Ron Normandeau. Ron sold it to Marc.

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.