Female Figurine

Item number 76.166.42 from the Brooklyn Museum.

Public

Item Records

This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.

The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.

These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.

Data
Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by Brooklyn Museum. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

Small ceramic figurine representing a woman with a large headdress and incised facial features. The lines of the buttocks are incised and the breasts are prominent. The legs are articulated and the arms are slightly raised and meet at the stomach. CONDITION: good; the legs have been repaired at the hip line.

Credit Line

Gift of Egizia Modiano

Label

Small anthropomorphic ceramic figurines are the hallmark of the ancient Valdivia culture of the tropical lowlands of western Ecuador. They usually depict nude women with prominent breasts, short arms, elaborate hairstyles, and incised features. Because of their abundance and the fact that they appear to have been intentionally mutilated and discarded with common household rubbish, scholars have suggested two possible functions: as offerings in fertility rituals or as repositories for spirit helpers summoned by shamans during healing ceremonies.

Pequeñas figurillas antropomórficas de cerámica son el sello de la antigua cultura Valdivia de las tierras bajas tropicales del oeste de Ecuador. Usualmente representan mujeres desnudas con pechos prominentes, brazos cortos, peinados elaborados y rasgos incisos. Por su abundancia y el hecho de que aparecen haber sido intencionalmente mutiladas y desechadas junto con la basura de las casas, académicos han sugerido dos posibles funciones: como ofrendas en rituales de fertilidad, o como recipiente para los espíritus ayudantes llamados por los chamanes en ceremonias curativas.