Monumental Veracruz Figural Incensario

Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, acquired by 1968

American Private Collection

Sotheby's, New York, May 15, 2009, lot 142, consigned by the above

Daniel Hourdé Collection, Paris, acquired at the above auction

Hasso von Winning, Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico and Central America, New York, 1968, p. 169 and p. 201, fig. 260

The dramatic sculpture of the deity Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death, is intimately linked to the cycle of recreation and regeneration. In the myth of the final act of creation, Quetzalcoatl gathered the bones of previous peoples from Mictlantecuhtli’s realm, using them to form new clans and families.¹ 

Here, the deity is portrayed with a massive barrel body and pectoral muscles supporting the skeletal features of the head, arms, and legs. It is believed the large hollow versions of the deity functioned as incensarios, placed over smoking fires, creating an apt and dramatic effect. 

Cf. For the sandstone figure of Mictlantecuhtli in a similar posture, in the British Museum, see Am1849,0629.2

¹ Mary Miller and Simon Martin, The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya, London, 1993, p. 113