*Sculpture anthropomorphe

depicting a deity seated on a bench, face up, legs bent and forearms resting on the knees. The figure wears sandals tied at the front and his legs are decorated with eagle claws. He is dressed in a loincloth and adorned with a bracelet on each wrist and a necklace around his neck. The bracelets are made of two bands decorated with cabochons. The necklace was originally to be completed by a pendant embedded in the hole in the chest. The head, which seems to be staring at something in the sky, emerges from an animal head decorated with two tubular earrings. The mouth is open and hollow, revealing the teeth. The thin nose has pierced nostrils. The almond-shaped eyes are hollowed out, exposing the lower and upper eyelids. The prominent superciliary arches merge with the eyebrows and join the top of the nose bridge. The representation of the bench is reserved for important figures. It must have been decorated with inlays, placed in the holes located in the centre of each face. The deity wears various attributes of the eagle and the jaguar and could be a shaman in transformation. Brown-beige hollow terracotta Veracruz - Mexico, 900 - 1200 AD 63.5 x 45 x 40.5 cm Provenance: - Former Yvon Collet collection since 1968 - Mermoz Gallery, 2001 Broken and glued head. Restoration on some scratches Left arm broken-glued Probable restoration on the right elbow joint Bench broken and glued *This lot is presented in temporary importation