James Bodisbaugh, Los Angeles
Edwin and Cherie Silver, Los Angeles, acquired from the above between 1968-1969

Inventoried by Hasso von Winning, March 28, 1970, no. 24

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, Temporary Loan, January 28 - June 30, 1975, (ex. 75.22)
Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA, Los Angeles, Companions of the Dead: Ceramic Tomb Sculpture from Ancient West Mexico, October 11 - November 27, 1983
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, September 5, 1998 - November 22, 1998, continuing to
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, December 20, 1998- March 29, 1999

Jacki Gallagher, Companions of the Dead: Ceramic Tomb Sculpture from Ancient West Mexico, Los Angeles, 1983, p. 47, fig. 32
Richard Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, Chicago, 1998, p. 177, fig. 17

The dignified, proud, and confident posture of this figure marks him as a ruler or individual of "superordinate political rank," indicated foremost by the seated posture and the modified conch shell spire carefully attached as a headdress (Graham, in Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico, 1998, p. 200). The precise modeling of his body, face and headdress ornament, along with the seamless and gleaming burnish of the ceramic surface, are signatures of a masterful ancient artisan and further evidence of a portrayal of an important individual. 

The figure sits erectly with legs folded right over left and his hands slightly clenched at the thighs. His youthful torso leans slightly forward in attention with the pectorals marked and his broad shoulders are adorned with a collar of seven slightly graduated oval cut shells. His slender head is ornamented with a large tapering shell spire, most likely from the conch shell species Stombus imported from the Caribbe꧅an or Gulf Coast. The shell is secured with a long narrow band marked by regularly spaced crosshatched designs (perhaps indicating a netted cord with solid plaques) which wraps around the spire to the back and top of the figure’s head and under the chin. His face is solemn, with a pronounced jawline, firmly set lips and modeled oval eyes deeply outlined. The ears are pierced for ornaments.

Much debate has surrounded the "horned" projections on Colima figures, which are considered diagnostic of shaman since Peter Furst’s studies in the 1960’s. Shamanic activity or ritualized ecstatic behavior was relevant to the rise of political authority. Graham convincingly showed it is the conch shell that has been a symbol of authority and rulership from early Olmec times continuing through the Teotihuacan, Maya and Aztec era (ibid.,☂ pp. 196-198). Rather than representing a "horn", the projection can be seen as a modified shell obtained from♐ outside the region. 

The seated position, while a seemingly obvious posture, was itself a symbol of attained status and authority in Mesoamerican art. Graham notes, "Seating is the most common verbal and visual metaphor for rulership in Mesoamerica" (ibid., p. 200). As explicitly shown on the fine Dumbarton Oaks Olmec jade pectoral, the incised figure of a heavily adorned lord wears a shell within his headdress with the glyphic text referring to his "seating" or accession to office (ibid., p. 197).

For a closely related figure in The Art Institute of Chicago, with similarly pursed lips, shell collar, and whose headband has the addition of a dog’s head, see Townsend, ed. ibid., p. 202, fig. 17, accession no. 1997:363.