Colima Effigy Vessel of a Shark, Protoclassic, circa 100 BC - AD 250

Private Collection, acquired in 1966
Jacques S. Purris Trust, acquired by descent from the above
Sotheby's, New York, 7, 2016, lot 150, consigned by the above
Private Collection, acquired at the above auction

Richard F. Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, Chicago, 1998, p. 188, fig. 29, cat. no. 53
Sotheby's, New York, May 16, 2014, lot 253

The animated composite figure of a shark is supported on four legs and is in the midst of swallowing a human figure whose limbs project from the toothy mouth. It has incised circular eyes and is modeled with the dorsal fins and a bifurcated tail; a spout is on the right side of the body. 

The shark was a powerful avatar for shamen in ancient West Mexico. The mythology as studied by Peter Furst describes how the shark would ingest a human figure and release it as a transformed aide that could communicate with animal spirits. The shaman or ruler who claimed this powerful alter ego was enhanced by its talents.

For another shark vessel likely from the same workshop, see Jacki Gallagher, Companions of the Dead, Ceramic Tomb Sculpture from Ancient West Mexico, Los Angeles, 1983, p. 68, fig. 77. For a Colima figure wearing a shark helmet, see Peter Furst, "Shamanic Symbolism, Transformation and Deities", in Richard F. Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, Chicago, 1998, p. 188, fig. 30.