Offered by Galerie Mermoz
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Condition : Intact
Object sold with a certificate of authenticity and a thermoluminescence test.
This superb creation is a masterpiece of Jalisco art of which there are very few comparable examples. The complexity and dynamics of the scene, depicting two dogs playing, turning one behind the other, testify to the degree of technical and artistic excellence achieved by the village societies of northwestern Mexico, which settled along the Pacific Ocean around the beginning of our era.
We observe here two dogs modeled in the round, a tour de force on the technical level. Lying on their side, in a head-to-tail position, they face each other, their backs turned outward and their heads tilted to the side, away from each other.
The darker dog (right) has a conspicuously raised torso and withers, with his head open and front legs resting in front of him, one on top of the other. The lighter dog (on the left) appears to be lying on his stomach, with just the neck straight, and the front paws raised and folded quietly under the mouth.
The naturalism shown by the ceramist is remarkable. The proportions are right, the details numerous. We easily find the characteristics of the Xolo (Xoloitzcuintli, aka Xolo, a dog that is thousands of years old ): a wide, long neck, an advanced muzzle with square jaws, a clearly visible nose as well as two V-shaped ears carried high and beautiful almond eyes that stand out, indicating its liveliness.
The black and polished slip, still present on a large part of this ceramic, also recalls, and no doubt on purpose, the anthracite gray or dark brown dress of the Xolo, and the magnificent shine of their nude and satin skin.
