Minneapolis Institute of Art

Head

Nopiloa artist

Date

600–800

Medium

Ceramic

Culture

Nopiloa (Veracruz)

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Figures with broadly smiling faces are typical of the central Veracruz area. Although they appear to be laughing, their facial expressions more likely represent ritual intoxication. The figures themselves are usually richly attired, in representations of sumptuous fabrics and large jewelry. A geometrically patterned headdress and the remains of one earspool appear on this head, which has been broken off from its body, perhaps even in antiquity. It is not certain what these distinctive figures were used for, or whom exactly they represented, but they are often found associated with burials. Nopiloa (Veracruz), México, Americas

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