Three small terracotta Michoacan figures, including a "pretty lady" type. The female wears a fancy headdress, necklace and ear ornament, and stands with both arms to her waist. She is accompanied by a girl, similarly attired but smaller, and a comparatively scarce figure of a boy, who stands with one hand to his waist, the other to his genitals. The back of each figure is unmodelled and has the collector's number on one limb.
 
Pre-Columbian Mexico Michoacan: circa 400 to 100 BC
 
Very Fine condition: Complete and intact.
Height (mother) 8.6 cms (3.4 ins)
 
Provenance: Private Nevada collection, ex. Dr. David Harner collection, Arkansas, 1950's - 1960's. All with collection #'s.
 
They are named the "pretty lady" types because in the early 1930's when they first became well known, the standard type of caricature of the American "lovely" in the magazines was strikingly like them. The name, given as a joke, has stuck with them because they are indeed pretty ladies with elaborate coiffure and plentiful jewellery, but little or no clothing (Burland, Art & Life in Ancient Mexico, 1948, p78).
 
See our blog post on Mesoamerica