A Large Nayarit Standing Couple, Ixtlán Polychrome style, Protoclassic, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250

the matrimonial pair with animated expressions showing pointed chins, teeth and elongated eyes, the male with distinctive conical cap, long quill brim and holding a fan, the female with a bowl to her left shoulder, each in clothing of elaborate design including zigzag patterned tunic and star patterned skirt and shawl, in bright shades of orange, cream, ochre and black.

The Douglas marriage couple is a fine example of the large ceramic sculptures of the Nayarit tradition. Honoring the ancestral families was important to the 'heritage of power' that dominated ancient West Mexican art. "As a rite of passage, marriage ceremonies maybe as complex as those of a ruler's inauguration.." (Townsend ed. 1998:123).
This couple has the large feet more characteristic of figures of the San Sebastián style, as seen in the Proctor Stafford collection (Kan, Meighan, Nicholson 1989: fig. 66);  see also Townsend ed. (1998: 91, fig. 3) for the style in Ixtlán del Rio.