SPINDEN— CENTRAL AMERICAN PORTRAITURE 



young woman of pleasing aspect in the two sculptures reproduced in 

 plate I, and almost the same facial expression is achieved in both 

 works, although the details of dress differ considerably. 



Archaic Caricatures in Clay.— Many writers have commented on 

 the fact that the pottery heads which are found in great numbers over 

 Mexico and Central America bear the imprint of personality either 

 by accident or by the expressed intention of the potter. Archeolo- 

 gists classify the heads according to periods and provinces. Much 

 space would be required to elucidate this subject in anything like a 

 definitive manner, and at this time only a few of the major classes of 

 pottery heads can be touched upon. 



The earliest art in clay as determined by stratified remains in the 

 Valley of Mexico is that of the so-called Archaic Period. The thick- 

 ened stratum indicates a long duration for this art and comparative 

 study has shown that the figurines are practically homogeneous over 

 a vast area. It seems likely that several stages will ultimately be 

 discerned in the historical development of archaic art in Mexico and 

 Central America before it gave way to higher forms. 



Heads of the Archaic Period offer unmistakable evidence of the 

 lack of anatomical knowledge or of ability to present this knowledge 

 by the crude technical methods then in use. Nevertheless the heads, 

 and in fact the entire bodies, are often strikingly effective as carica- 

 tures. The large effigy vessels found in graves may be attempts at 

 portraiture, but portraiture so restricted by convention and ignor- 

 ance that it nowhere approaches truth in form. The very naivete of 

 these entire figures with their large ill-shapen heads and short stumpy 

 limbs appeals strongly to the imagination. The fact that the persons 

 represented are often engaged in active exercise gives us additional 

 material for rounding out a sympathetic picture. However, the writer 

 suspects that the caricatures, even when most effective, are haphazard 

 rather than intentional. Objectively there is considerable similarity 

 in style between some of these first products of New World art and 

 the fantastic figures turned out in the maudlin schools of modern 

 sculpture. But one important difference may be noted between the 

 first and second childhood of plastic art — the real primitives did the 

 best they knew how. Caricature was the nearest they could come to 

 nature, nevertheless their intention was to reproduce truth in form 

 and habit. 



The four clay figures given in plate II, probably dating from a late 

 era of the Archaic Period, are successful attempts to express emotion 

 by action. If these funerary effigies were intended to have a sober 

 portrait quality, as seems most likely, then the obvious quality of 



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