Standing dog
Pre-hispanic
Hairless dogs called techichi were fattened up for eating as feast food in ancient Mexico. Sixteenth-century chronicles discuss how these dogs were fed beans, lard and bananas until they became as fat as piglets. The vivid animation of this figure is a tribute to the skill of these artists. Mythological references speak of the dog as a guide who led the souls of the deceased past many obstacles, through the regions of rivers and shadows, to the land of the dead.
Ceramic with slip
10 1/4 × 14in. (26 × 35.6cm)
Floyd A. Naramore Memorial Purchase Fund and Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund
75.101
Photo: Elizabeth Mann