Warrior Head
300-900
Precolumbian
7 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (19.1 x 14 cm)
Remojadas artist
Mexico
Remojadas; made in Veracruz, Mexico
Object Type:
Ceramics
Medium and Support:
Clay
Credit Line:
R. T. Miller Fund
Accession Number:
1944.61
Location: Currently on view
Veracruz, the Gulf Coast region of Mexico, is rich in archaeological sites with great quantities of ceramic and stone sculptures. This head is a fragment of a larger figure, now missing. The influence from the Maya civilization to the south is visible in the face’s crossed eyes. The Maya believed that since humans had to squint their eyes to look at the sun, the Sun God squinted back. Thus, crossed eyes became a standard of beauty, and parents would hang beads between their children’s eyes so they became permanently crossed.
[Gallery label text, 2009]