Lot 104 , A group of pre-Colombian terracotta heads, a partial figure and beads, Mexico

A group of pre-Colombian terracotta heads, a partial figure and beads, Mexico, including two Chupicuaro heads, 200 BC - 900 AD, largest 4.3cm, Teotihuacan terracotta - twenty heads, a scarce partial figure, 8.5cm and a stone head, 0 - 650 AD, four terracotta heads and sixteen beads

Provenance - Walter Civardi (1910-1996) Professor Emeritus Pratt Institute
Walter Civardi, who established the photographic department of Pratt Institute in New York, was a keen collector of Pre-Columbian Art from Ancient Western Mexico. His extensive collection focuses principally on the regional styles of Colima, Jalisco, Nyarit and Chupicuaro. These outstanding pieces were created between 1,150 BC to 250 AD.
In 1949, 1950 and 1953, he travelled to Mexico with his colleague and fellow educator, artist and scholar, Ivan Rigby. Both Walter and Ivan had a keen eye for design and composition through their professions and were very discerning in their selection of fine artefacts from primitive cultures. They particularly liked the pieces that reflected a lively interest in daily life.
Many artists, such as Henry Moore, Picasso, Braque, Corbusier, Calder and Dali, whom Ivan visited in their Paris studios, all valued the sophistication and simplicity of design of these pre-Colombian art pieces. They drew on them extensively in their own work. Diego Rivera was also a great admirer and had an impressive collection himself. He used Western Mexican forms conspicuously in a variety of his works.
Several pieces in Walter Civardi's collection have been exhibited in New York City.
£150-250

Sold for £150