{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[{"id":2035656,"period":"Late Preclassic"}],"creditline":"Museum purchase","caption":"Comala, Late Formative Period, 200 BCE–200 CE, Colima, West Mexico, Mexico, Mesoamerica, Dancing dogs. Blackware ceramic; 12.6 x 13.5 x 7.5 cm. Museum purchase (y1985-49)","cultureterms":[{"id":2039243,"culture":"Colima"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2080553,"term":"shaft graves","aatid":300005951,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2055437,"term":"figurines","aatid":300047455,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2049167,"term":"ceramics","aatid":300151343,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2103919,"term":"dogs","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2039243,"term":"Colima","aatid":300017197,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2135437,"term":"deaths","aatid":300151836,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2089652,"term":"dancers","aatid":300025653,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2035656,"term":"Late Preclassic","aatid":300016976,"termtype":"Period / Style"},{"id":2160750,"term":"ceramic","aatid":300235507,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: North America, Mexico, Colima, West Mexico","code":"Place made","continent":"North America","subcontinent":"Mesoamerica","country":"Mexico","region":"West Mexico","state":"Colima","city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/4013513/estado-de-colima.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"12.60"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"13.50"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"7.50"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"1985-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[],"datecomputed":0,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Ceramic","packages":[],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2055437,"classification":"figurines"},{"id":2049167,"classification":"ceramics"}],"exhibitions":[],"cultures":[{"id":17720,"culture":"Comala","alphasort":"Comala","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Comala","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/y1985-49_A"],"displaytitle":"Dancing dogs","displayculture":"Comala","displaymaker":null,"captionhtml":"Comala, Late Formative Period, 200 BCE–200 CE, Colima, West Mexico, Mexico, Mesoamerica, Dancing dogs. Blackware ceramic; 12.6 x 13.5 x 7.5 cm. Museum purchase (y1985-49)","displaydate":"200 BCE–200 CE","medium":"Blackware ceramic","media":[{"id":13254,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/y1985-49_A","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Luna Digitization Project"},{"id":21033,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV0000355_1","isprimary":0,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Image"},{"id":21069,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV0000354_1","isprimary":0,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Image"}],"displayperiod":"Late Formative Period","extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007)","citation":"Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 114 (illus.)","date":2007,"id":474,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/191864564"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1985,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 45, no. 1 (1986): p.16–42","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1985,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 45, no. 1 (1986): p.16–42, p. 40","date":1986,"id":521,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774653"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[{"id":24009,"period":"Late Formative Period","alphasort":"Formative Period, Late","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayperiod":"Late Formative Period","displaydate":null}],"department":"Art of the Ancient Americas","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199317,"term":"Art of the Ancient Americas","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"","dateend":200,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Dancing dogs","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":"","objectnumber":"y1985-49","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Didactics","textentryhtml":"Ceramic figurines found in shaft tombs in the west Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima commonly depict humans or animals, but in distinct regional styles. Representations of dogs, such as this charmingly expressive dancing pair, were especially popular in Colima. The proportions, dark color, and incised lines indicating folds of skin leave no doubt that these canines are Mexican hairless dogs (Xoloitzquintle in Nahautl). Often represented with pot bellies, the dogs were raised for food but also presumably as companions. In Colima ceramics, the dogs often appear in pairs or with two heads, revealing their symbolic relation to notions of duality. Throughout Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, hairless dogs also bore strong associations with the Underworld. Such figurines were likely included in west Mexican burials to symbolically guide and accompany the deceased on the journey into the Underworld, and possibly to provide symbolic nourishment in the afterlife.","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"

Shaft-tomb Ceramics of West Mexico

\r\n

The cultures of western Mexico, in the present-day states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima, shared a tradition of burying the deceased in deep shaft tombs located under homes. These tombs often accommodated generations of family members: when someone died, the bones of their ancestors were moved aside to create room for the new ancestor. A great variety of ceramic objects were produced in distinctive local styles to accompany the dead. Human figures might represent loved ones or key moments in the history of the interred; animal representations might have been perceived as providing sustenance in the afterlife, or they may have been seen as eternal companions.

","remarks":"2015 AAA Reinstallation WC7 Formative Mesoamerica. Group chat for 5 objects: y1977-91, y1977-92, 2012-82, 2014-49, and y1985-49"}],"datebegin":-200,"sortnumber":"1985 49y","published_date":"2026-02-11 10:32:12.848101","objectid":32916,"dimensions":"h. 12.6 cm., w. 13.5 cm., d. 7.5 cm. (4 15/16 x 5 5/16 x 2 15/16 in.)","on_view":false}