Figurine fragment

900-1400 CE
Unknown Artist (Mesoamerican)

Object Type	Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection
Dimensions	4 1/4 x 3 1/4 in. (10.8 x 8.26 cm)
Medium	Earthenware
Credit Line	Bates Collee Museum of art, Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, Gift of the Marsden Hartley Estate, 1951.2.94
Accession Number	1951.2.94

The white slip and fine-grained paste is typical of pottery figurines from the Gulf Coast lowlands of Veracruz and Tabasco. The facial style and headdress elements are typical of Post-Classic figurines in this region as well as the adjacent Mexican states of Puebla and Morelos. Given that Hartley lived and traveled in the central highlands, it is more likely the piece came from Central Mexico.
See García Payón, José, 1971, “Archaeology of Central Veracruz.” In Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. II, Part 2. University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 505-542. University of Texas Press, Austin; Taube, Karl, 1988, The Albers Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Hudson Hills Press, New York.