Tlatilco Female Figurine Analysis

The Tlatilco female figurine (1200-900 B.C.E.) is a ceramic sculpture created in Central Mexico at the site of Tlatilco. The 9.5 cm tall sculpture depicts a woman with two faces exhibiting an intricate hairstyle, a slim waist, and large thighs. The sculptor of the Tlatilco female figurine is unknown, but one can conclude that the artist was from the people of the Tlatilco culture. The people of the Tlatilco culture lived in the Valley of Mexico, where they created many small clay figures, but sculpted them by hand rather than using a mold. The figurine is currently residing at the Princeton University Art Museum. In Tlatilco female figurine, the artist uses visual elements and principles to draw attention to the face and the hairstyle. Three visual elements that sculptor of Tlatilco female figurine uses are texture, color, and shape. Texture refers to the way something feels or looks as if it would feel. The sculptor uses a repeating pattern texture to decorate the sculpture’s hair. This choice of adding texture solely to the hair causes the hair to stand out. Color is an additional element that

As alluded to in the previous paragraph, the artist uses texture to contrast between the head and lower body of the sculpture. Concentrated at the head is the textured portions of the sculpture, leaving the rest of the body plain. The contrast between the textured head and the plain body allows the prominent part of the artwork to stand out. An illustration of emphasis is on the sculpture’s face. The sculpture has two faces instead of just one. Since having two faces isn’t common, it, in combination with the hair, becomes the focal point of the sculpture. The scale of this sculpture is miniature reaching only 9.5 cm. The small size of the sculpture makes the intricacy of the sculpture all the more