Tlatilco, Mexico, Terracotta Figure. 12,5 cm H. 1500 - 500 BC. Spanish Export License

Figure -nice piece-

Tlatilco, Mexico, 1500 - 500 BC.

Terracotta

12,5 cm height.

Provenance:
- Private collection, J. R. (1928 - 2013) Barcelona, formed since 1950 until 1980. Thence by descendent.

DOCUMENTS:
- Spanish Export License.

Condition: Intact, good condition, see photos.

The Tlatilco culture arose on the high plains of what is now central Mexico, on the shores of Lake Texcoco. The name ‘Tlatilco’ is the Nahuatl word for “place where things are hidden” or “place of mounds”. This lakeside region offers rich hunting and fishing grounds in a landscape of wooded hills and fertile valleys and a humid, rainy climate.

The most notable Tlatilco artwork are ceramic figurines in human shapes, two kinds of which are known: large hollow figurines painted red, and small solid ones fashioned with remarkable skill and attention to detail. The smaller figurines are of naked young women decked out in elaborate headdresses and short skirts or body paint. Others represent two-headed figures, humpbacked people, and deformed or masked individuals. The Tlatilco figurines depict ceremonial clothing, personages, and people of different social rank, including ball players and contortionists. The culture’s ceramic vessels feature decorated forms with limited use of color. Their most common shapes show clear external influences and include dishes, jars without necks, long-necked bottles, three-legged jars, and bottles with stirrup handles. They also fashioned vessels modeled in the forms of local animals and plants, such as ducks, fish, and squash.

The Tlatilco spread out their burials instead of grouping them together in cemeteries. Bodies were buried directly in the earth, laid out and accompanied by offerings for the afterlife, particularly ceramic figurines. The iconography of Tlatilco grave goods reflects a belief system based on fertility worship, which is most notable in the emphasis on wide hips, breasts, and females in general. Among these early village dwellers, these would have been related to fertility rites associated with agricultural cycles.

The Taltilco emerged from the earlier El Arbolillo and Zacatenco cultures in the Mexico Valley and were influenced by the lowland Olmec people. These influences are expressed in the representations of felines, in the features of many Tlatilco figurines, and throughout the Tlatilco ceramic tradition. The Tlatilco culture disappeared between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE.




Notes:
- The piece includes authenticity certificate.
- The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union). NOT TAXES.
- According to Spanish legislation, items sent outside the European Union are subject to export taxes and will be added to the invoice, at the buyer's expense. These export fees are fixed on the final auction price and the tax rate is not applied directly on the total value of the item to be exported, but rather the different percentages by sections are applied to it:
- Up to 6,000 euros: 5%.
- From 6,001 to 60,000 euros: 10%.
This export permit application process can take between 1-2 months maximum.
- The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.