Veracruz standing female figure, Nopiloa Late Classic, ca. A.D. 550-950

the finely modeled face with almond-shaped eyes starring downward, delicate mouth with parted lips showing teeth, wearing a tunic patterned with multiple designs including step scrolls, crosses, and beaded plaques, and supporting a filled sac over her shoulder and tied on the chest, her jewelry including a bead necklace with effigy face pendant, and the elaborate ear ornaments decorated with a Tlaloc face, the hand-modeled fillet headband with maize leaves and woven elements.

Jay C. Leff Collection (Parke Bernet Galleries, Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico and Mayan Area, The Property of Jay C. Leff, New York, May 23, 1970, lot 114)

Acquired by the present owner's family from the above

Pittsburgh, Exotic Art from Ancient and Primitive Civilizations, Collection of Jay C. Leff, Carnegie Institute, October 15, 1959- January 3, 1960, no. 502, illus.

Brooklyn, Ancient Art of Latin America, Collection of Jay C. Leff, Brooklyn Museum, November 22, 1966- March 5, 1967, no. 372, illus., catalogue to the exhibition by Elizabeth Kennedy Easby

The eggshell thin Nopiloa ceramics are unusual for their finely detailed moldmade form featuring evocative facial features and elite accoutrements of clothing and jewelry. The Jay Leff collection from which this figure originally came, included four figures, one now at the Art Institute of Chicago; for other examples, see Goldstein (1988: fig. 101).