Dog with a Corncob (Primary Title)
Dog with a Corn Cob (Former Title)
animal figurine (Object Name)
Unknown (Artist)
Highly naturalistic and frequently amusing animals are common subjects in West Mexican ceramics. Close inspection, however, suggests that such innocent depictions are symbolically complex: the distinctly human manner in which this dog grips the corncob suggests that the figure may in fact be a shaman transformed into a dog. Among the few domesticated animals in the New World, dogs were common companions of warriors in battle. In addition, many Pre-Columbian cultures believed that dogs guided the dead through the underworld in the afterlife.
Late Formative
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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