Dog (Lagunillas Style)

Label

The style of this ceramic dog—featuring broad areas of red pigment and partially closed eyes—indicates that it was likely made in a workshop in the San Pedro Lagunillas region of West Mexico. Domesticated dogs were companions for people in this region, as they are in the present day, but they also were bred as a food source, played a part in rituals, and accompanied hunters.

While many examples of West Mexican ceramics were excavated from shaft tombs, where individuals were buried surrounded by ceramics in chambers accessed through a vertical shaft, similar ceramics have also been found in homes and community buildings. The neutral phrase at the beginning of the provenance record, “collected by,” offers limited insight into whether this sculpture was unearthed, purchased, or traded for by its collectors. At the time when many museum collections were formed, it was common to prioritize the object itself over where or how it was acquired. Today, museums work diligently to create more complete provenance records and use their public-facing exhibitions to seek out previously unknown information.

From the 2024 exhibition Ancient Narratives: A New Look at Old Art, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

SART 17.08, Digital Drawing, Karol Kawiaka, Fall 2020

COCO 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Heidi Denzel and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2022

COCO 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Heidi Denzel and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2022

Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke, Summer 2023

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Floriana Ciniglia, Winter 2024

Religion 4.01, Jewish Studies 4.01, Religion of Israel: Hebrew Bible, Susan Ackerman, Winter 2024

Studio Art 16.01, Sculpture I, Matt Siegle, Winter 2024

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Geography 21.01, International Studies 18.01, Global Health and Society, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

A Collector's Choice, William B. Jaffe Memorial Exhibition, Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 8, 1972-January 7, 1973.

Ancient and Premodern Global Cultures, Gene Y. Kim Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019.

Global Cultures at the Hood: Ancient to Premodern, Gene Y. Kim Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26. 2019.

Publication History

John R. Stomberg, The Hood Now: Art and Inquiry at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2019, p. 77, ill. plate no. 8.

Provenance

Collected by Evelyn Annenberg Friede Jaffe Hall (1911-2005) and William B. Jaffe (1904-1972), New York, New York, date unknown; given to present collection, 1958.

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu

Subjects