DISCOVERART

Jalisco

Storyteller Figure

100–800 CE
Ceramic and pigment
55.9 × 55.9 cm (22 × 22 in)

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● On view now — Gallery 161

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · verified July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This energetic figure looks like he is about to tell a really interesting story. Unfortunately, what he sought to communicate is lost to time. In ancient west Mexico, such ceramic figures were used in life and ultimately interred in shaft tombs. Although West Mexican art has at times been overshadowed by Olmec, Maya, and Aztec art, it became popular among US collectors in the mid-20th century. Chicago has been a center for collecting West Mexican art and today the Art Institute stewards many pieces from these important ceramic traditions.

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