*Ocarina

Standing priestess dressed in a wide-brimmed skirt and a cape reaching down to her waist. Her arms are raised, her hands are open and her fingers are joined. She is wearing a double necklace and circular earrings with pendants falling on her shoulders. The open mouth reveals the filed upper teeth. The almond-shaped eyes are close together. The superciliary arches meet the root of the nose. The head is topped by a diadem decorated with small circles in relief with lateral indentations. Traces of polychromy reveal a geometric decoration on all the clothing and on the lower band of the headdress. A flute mouthpiece is attached to the back of the cloak on the left. On the back are four firing holes and a smaller one is located under the left side of the headdress. Brown hollow clay with red, brown and black decoration Veracruz - Mexico, AD 450 - 750 42.5 x 30.8 x 12.7 cm Provenance: - Former Yvon Collet collection since 1966 - Mermoz Gallery, 2001 Our woman evokes one of the functions devolved to them: the exercise as priestesses in the service of the gods or as shamans. Their power of creation and their sensitivity have often linked them to the cosmic force and the power of prophetic intuition. The female shaman had a central place in pre-Columbian society, both socially and religiously. She served as a guide to the community by communicating with the spirits and balancing cosmic forces. To achieve this, she must enter into a trance by drinking and smoking hallucinogenic substances, singing and dancing. We have the chance to see these various stages through our piece Veracruz which performs a dance with its arms raised. This sculpture was also used as an ocarina during ritual ceremonies, so it is both a representation and the ritual object that creates the music. Lateral outgrowth broken-glued to the huipil *This lot is presented as a temporary import