Model of a Tree-Climbing Ritual
100–800 CE
Medium
Earthenware and pigment
Dimensions
22.4 × 14.6 × 14.5 cm (8 7/8 × 5 3/4 × 5 3/4 in.)
Classification
ceramics
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
120168
Art Historical Context
This ceramic model from the Nayarit culture of western Mexico offers a vivid glimpse into ancient ritual life. Created between 100 and 800 CE, the earthenware sculpture with traces of pigment captures a ceremonial scene of figures climbing a tree, likely representing a sacred or communal rite. Such narrative works were often placed in shaft tombs, serving as offerings that connected the living with ancestors and the spiritual world. Nayarit artists excelled in hand-modeled ceramics that blended everyday observation with symbolic meaning. The compact scale—roughly nine inches tall—allowed for ...