Lot 1792
Dog - In Red-glazed Ceramic. Western Mexico, Colima, c. 200 BC. - 300 AD. A large and finely crafted "red" dog, standing with teeth bared -- almost smiling. The dog of somewhat robust build, but with short legs, and an immensely bloated abdomen. The details of the eyes and teeth are incised. Repairs at neck and legs, with probable restoration to some of the feet. The glaze well preserved, with considerable remains of black organic encrustations. Length: 14-5/8". An imposing and eye-catching example of this very popular, and collectible, antiquity.
Estimated Value $1,250 - 1,950.
Dogs were revered and respected in ancient Mexico's Indian culture. The "Colima Dog," a distant relative of the Mexican Hairless and the Chihuahua, may have been a pet, or it may have been fattened for eating -- or both! Among the early colonial immigrants, a Jesuit Priest, "Sahagún," examined and wrote of the things concerning the "new" lands of America. Regarding these dogs of Colima, which are generally portrayed as quite fat, even grotesquely so, but many of which have happy faces, he says, "The dogs of this land have four names, called: Chichi, Itzcuintli, Xochiocoyotl, Tetlamin; and also tehuizotl…. They raise other dogs that they call Xoloitzcuintli with no hair at all…. There are other dogs that are called tlalchichi, short and round, that are very good to eat".
It is believed that the hairless dogs, the Xoloitzcuintli, represented the god Xolotl, who had the task of guiding the dead on their journey to "Mictlan," that is, the Spirit World. The Aztecs believed that in order for the souls of the dead to reach "Mictlan" they had to cross the black river "Apanoayan", as well as overcoming other obstacles, and these hairless Xoloitzcuintlis had the task of guiding their human masters across this river, along with helping them overcome all the other difficulties on the journey. It is said that these red-colored dogs became the chosen guide because for a black dog to the perform the task, it was found to be difficult to distinguishing its black shape on a black river, in the murky underworld. When a white dog was approached as a substitute, that dog refused because it didn't want its coat soiled by the dark waters. The red dog then stepped up to the task and performed it well.
An affirmation of this mythology of the Colima dog is the fact that these statues were always found in graves sites and nowhere else. In essence the pottery dogs were an article manufactured strictly for funerary use.
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| Realized $1,840 |
