Standing female figure c. 250 - 300

This is a ceramic female figure made by the Chupícuaro people of present-day Mexico, but we don't know exactly when it was made. Its display here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art raises some questions about the public role of such objects. The figure’s bare body and the care taken in rendering its features, especially the face and adornments, suggests it may have served some ritual purpose, perhaps connected to fertility. We know the Chupícuaro culture flourished between 800 BCE and 200 CE, contemporary with the Olmec civilization. Its people were skilled agriculturalists and potters and its artifacts have been found at various sites in central Mexico. But without knowing the specific circumstances in which this object was originally used, it is difficult to be certain about its meaning and function. Art history can only take us so far and the interpretation of artifacts like this depends on research from archeology, anthropology, and other fields. It’s a reminder that the meaning of art is always contingent on the social and institutional context.