Crawling Male
Artist:
Unknown
Place made:Mexico
General region:North and Central America
Culture: Colima
Period: Pre-Columbian
Date: ca. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
Medium: Earthenware with slip
Dimensions:
height: 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm)
width: 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm)
depth: 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, Bequest of Elizabeth Huth Coates
Object number: 97.1.3
Provenance: with Alphonse Jax, New York, by 1979; by purchase to Mrs. Elizabeth Huth Coates (nee Maddux) (1909-1996), San Antonio, 1979; by bequest of the Elizabeth Huth Coates estate to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 1997.
Label Text
This figure depicts a male in a crawling position with part of his spinal column emerging out of his skin. Among the Colima and other Mesoamerican cultures, persons with unique body structure were often shamans or other important ritual performers. Given modern medical knowledge, it is possible that the individual depicted had the condition known as spina bifida. (Bernadette Cap 2020)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
