Seated Dog200 BCE - 500 CE

Not on view

Ceramic sculpture of a seated dog with large upright ears, compact rounded body, and mottled brick-red and dark brown surface

Ceramic figure of a seated dog with rounded, plump body in reddish-brown clay with dark mottled surface, curled tail, and upturned snout.

Title: Seated Dog
Culture: Colima
Place Made: Mexico, Colima
Date Made: 200 BCE - 500 CE
Medium: Red burnished ceramic
Dimensions: 9 3/8 × 6 × 12 3/4 in. (23.81 × 15.24 × 32.39 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Constance McCormick Fearing
Accession Number: M.2023.61.621
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: Dogs had a particular significance in the Colima region of West Mexico, where they were frequently depicted in ceramic (see also M.86.296.152 and .154). The deep red color and highly burnished surface finish seen here are typical of Colima-style ceramics, but this example is particularly realistic and detailed. The maker even modeled the cutaneous marginal pouch in the dog’s ear, a small fold of skin, often called a “Henry’s pocket,” located on the lower corner of the outer ear.

The extended belly of this sculpture (as well as that of many other Colima ceramic dogs) would support the idea that dogs were fattened up for consumption, and the eating of dog meat is supported by limited documentary and archaeological evidence in other regions of Mexico. At the city of Teotihuacan, circa 1–550 CE, bone analyses show that large felines (pumas) kept captive there were likely fed dog meat and possibly human meat. The dogs in turn consumed a diet high in maize, very similar to that of the human inhabitants of the city, indicating that dogs were part of a complex and likely ritualized/ceremonialized food chain.

Sixteenth-century Spanish documents from Central Mexico (Florentine Codex, Book 3, fol. 26) describe the role of dogs as companions or guides for the deceased across a river into the deepest tier of the realm of the dead. Today, the hairless Xoloitzcuintli breed that is likely depicted in this sculpture is still favored as a pet and plays an integral role in Day of the Dead celebrations. The specific DNA mutation that causes the hairlessness is also present in the Peruvian Hairless Dog, and is one line of evidence for contact between West Mexico and the South American Pacific coastline of Ecuador and northern Peru.
Copyright: photo © Museum Associates/LACMA, by Charles Powers

Seated Dog200 BCE - 500 CE

Not on view

Title: Seated Dog
Culture: Colima
Place Made: Mexico, Colima
Date Made: 200 BCE - 500 CE
Medium: Red burnished ceramic
Dimensions: 9 3/8 × 6 × 12 3/4 in. (23.81 × 15.24 × 32.39 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Constance McCormick Fearing
Accession Number: M.2023.61.621
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: Dogs had a particular significance in the Colima region of West Mexico, where they were frequently depicted in ceramic (see also M.86.296.152 and .154). The deep red color and highly burnished surface finish seen here are typical of Colima-style ceramics, but this example is particularly realistic and detailed. The maker even modeled the cutaneous marginal pouch in the dog’s ear, a small fold of skin, often called a “Henry’s pocket,” located on the lower corner of the outer ear.

The extended belly of this sculpture (as well as that of many other Colima ceramic dogs) would support the idea that dogs were fattened up for consumption, and the eating of dog meat is supported by limited documentary and archaeological evidence in other regions of Mexico. At the city of Teotihuacan, circa 1–550 CE, bone analyses show that large felines (pumas) kept captive there were likely fed dog meat and possibly human meat. The dogs in turn consumed a diet high in maize, very similar to that of the human inhabitants of the city, indicating that dogs were part of a complex and likely ritualized/ceremonialized food chain.

Sixteenth-century Spanish documents from Central Mexico (Florentine Codex, Book 3, fol. 26) describe the role of dogs as companions or guides for the deceased across a river into the deepest tier of the realm of the dead. Today, the hairless Xoloitzcuintli breed that is likely depicted in this sculpture is still favored as a pet and plays an integral role in Day of the Dead celebrations. The specific DNA mutation that causes the hairlessness is also present in the Peruvian Hairless Dog, and is one line of evidence for contact between West Mexico and the South American Pacific coastline of Ecuador and northern Peru.