"Horned" Male
Unknown Artist
100 BCE–300 CE
Medium
earthenware with colored slips, black burial deposits
Dimensions
41.5 × 24.9 × 24.7 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Fiftieth anniversary gift of the Womens Council in honor of the Museum's Seventy-fifth anniversary
Accession Number
1991.20
About this artwork
This figure’s concentrated, otherworldly expression is emphasized by the hornlike element strapped to its forehead. This "horn" may be the spire of a conch shell, which comes from water and, therefore, refers to fertility—likely an important ritual concern of West Mexican chiefs. The element also could represent the "horn of power" worn in some areas of the world by shamans, the spiritual leaders and healers of small, nonindustrial societies.