Galo Polychrome figures provide a wealth of
ethnographic detail because of their realistic
style. Coiffures, clothing, and careful body
painting or tattooing are all clearly shown.
Patterns acceptable for female body decorations
were different from those for males, for whom
mythologically important animal traits
predominate. This male is an exception to this
assumption for his patterns are very similar to
female patterns. Galo effigies are almost always
female which make this male a very valuable and
exceptional example. The mirror-bright
burnished surface is technically unsurpassed by
any Pre-Columbian pottery, and the angular
geometric patterns of reddish-orange, black and
cream are impressively vivid. The guilloche (an
ornament formed by two or more intertwining
bands or intersecting lines) and woven-mat
patterns are indicative of high rank. They
represent the finest ceramics of the great
tradition of polychrome pottery in Guanacaste-
Nicoya.
From the beginning of time, the desire to find an
outlet for the conceptual world in the tangible
world has prompted humans to model their own
form in clay. Rather than representing a
particular man, this is an idealization, a concept
that is materialized to perform a role. A role
needed to represent and transmit ideas on man,
the cosmos, and
their interlinking forces. The harmonious whole
of his form reaches the mind and soul of
the viewer. There is no concern for anatomical
proportions; rather he conveys a message. It's
difficult to imagine what the elaborate
ornaments on his body precisely mean. We can
only suggest that they are complex cosmogonies
and rituals that will forever remain impenetrable.
He kneels before us philosophizing over man's
place in the universe, a puzzling question, which
seems to have hypnotized him across the
centuries.
- (PF.3217)
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