Gilcrease Museum is temporarily closed for construction.

Get the Full Story

Exhibition Browse: West Mexico - Ritual and Identity

This exhibit examined and interpreted the art and artifacts of the shaft tomb culture that flourished in West Mexico 300 BC-500 AD, bringing together the most current research from the field, scientific laboratories and objects to re-create life, death and ritual.

With large scale murals of these settlements complementing the objects on display, the exhibition examined the various forms of sculpted vessels, paying particular attention to the human forms, which tell a rich story of a culture predating the more widely known Aztecs, but equally as fascinating and arguably more influential.

Image Title Creator Culture Accession # Materials/Techniques
San Sebastian style hollow kneeling female ceramic effigy Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.4051 clay, slip, paint
Ixtlan del Rio style hollow female ceramic effigy Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.4068 clay, slip, paint
Ixtlan del Rio style hollow male ceramic effigy Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.4069 clay, slip, paint
In the style of an Ameca-Etzatlan style hollow male ceramic figure sculpture Mesoamerican 54.4198 clay, slip, paint
Solid ceramic human standing human figure Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.7338 clay
San Sebastian style hollow seated female ceramic figure Mesoamerican 54.8181 clay
Huichol Yarn Painting Mesoamerican; Huichol 99.190 yarn on board
El Volcán Raúl Anguiano Mexican 01.2012 oil on canvas
Cabeza de Indio Diego Rivera Mexican 01.2022 oil on masonite
Ixtlán del Rio style hollow ceramic figure Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.1715 clay, slip, paint
Comala hunchback male dwarf figure Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.3487 clay, burnished red slip
Comala style twin dog effigy vessel with two heads and two tails Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.3457 clay, burnished red slip
Ceramic reclining dog figure with humanoid hand possibly Mexican 54.3475 fired clay, burnished red slip
In the style of a Coahuayana style female figure supported by arms and legs possibly Mexican 54.3734 clay, slip, paint
Large chipped obsidian spike Mesoamerican 61.8780 obsidian
Large bi-facially chipped obsidian blade Mesoamerican 61.8785 obsidian
Comala style tripod jar in the form of a squash with animal heads as the legs Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.2093 clay, burnished red slip
Tuxcacuesco-Ortices style, a "Teco" variant, solid female figurine strapped to a litter Mesoamerican; West Mexican 54.3759 clay
Ixtlan del Rio style hollow seated ceramic female figure carrying vessel at left shoulder Mesoamerican 54.3910 clay, slip, paint
Red-brown clay dog head with incised eyes and mouth and large oval eyes Kathy and Dr. Earl B. Riddick, Unidentified Mesoamerican 54.20362 ceramic