A charming group of three terracotta pottery vessels with painted decoration, modelled as hunched figures in a seated position, each with snub noses and wearing ear spools.
 
Pre-Columbian: Circa 100 BC- 250 AD.
 
Complete and intact. One of the three figures with slightly different texture so not original to the group, though it is the same age, culture etc.
Height 10.2 to 8.5 cms (4 to 3.4 ins)
 
Provenance: Ex Romy Rey Collection, London; collected from the 1980's and onwards.
 
The Chinesco style belongs to the Nayarit culture that developed on the west side of Mexico during the proto classic period 300 B.C. to 300 AD. The name of this style comes from the unintended similarity of the face of these figurines with Chinese art. The ancient artists of West Mexico found beauty in ordinary things and celebrated life in all its complexity and diversity.