Standing-Dog (Summer School Week 2)

Journaling: I was enchanted by this “Standing Dog Effigy” (100-300 CE) at the “Framing Nature” exhibit at the Harn Museum. This red-slipped pottery from a tomb in a small agricultural village, is a depiction of a Mexican hairless dog, called a xoloixcuintli. Was this intended to be a surrogate pet for the owner in the afterlife? The rounded belly suggests this could be a fertility symbol. Most likely it is a guide for the soul of the deceased through the hazards of the afterlife. 7/7/16


Credits: “Snow & Ice”, Kristin Aagard (string, recolored); “Safari”, Dawn Inskip (staple); “Mariko”, Lynn Grieveson