Dog Effigy
Artist
Unknown
Datecirca 200 BCE–300 CE
MediumCeramic with red slip paint
Dimensionsheight, width, and depth: 10 7/8 x 15 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (27.6 x 39.4 x 24.1 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Mace Neufeld
Object numberG.73.20.3
On View
On viewEffigies like this were placed in tombs to help guide the deceased’s soul on the dangerous four-year-long journey to the underworld. It is believed that only xoloitzcuintli dogs, especially those with a reddish color, could help with the most difficult part of the journey, when the soul had to cross a turbulent river and reach the opposite shore safely. What purpose might the potter have intended with the texture of this effigy?
[Á. González, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2024]Published ReferencesNorth Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Winter 1986-87), illus. (b-w) 5.
Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (b-w) 83.
Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (b-w) 57.
"Art in the Schools," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Spring 1993), mentioned and illus. (b-w) 16.
Shelby Stephenson, "My Time with Dogs" in “You Are the River: Literature Inspired by the North Carolina Museum of Art,” edited by Helena Feder (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2021), illus (color) 200.
North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection," (Raleigh, NC; North Carolina Museum of Art, 2024), illus. (color) 203.Exhibition HistoryRichmond, VA, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, “Masterpieces from the North Carolina Museum of Art,” March 10-April 13, 1975.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement
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