186 A R T OP A M E R I C A N N A T I O N S .
in beauty all we knew before of the art of the Red-race. The
simplicity of design, the exquisite
F!s- 80- finish of execution, and the earnest
expression of the head in question (to
which our wood-cut does not do adequate
justice), place it on an equal
footing with the productions of any
Japetide race. Still, the Indian character
of the features attests sufficiently
its indigenous origin. We owe this
gem of American sculpture to the liberality
of Me. S q u i e r ; whose name is
associated with so many important researches
and enterprises, that he has
been able easily to transfer to us the
honor of publishing the best of all
American statuary. To it we add, as
specimens of Central American style,
G u a t em a l ia n -id o l . three heads from one of his published
works.205
Fig. 81. Pig. 82. Fig. 83.
N ic a r a g u a n . N ic a r a g u a n . N ic a r a g u a n .
¥ e copy from the work of d e R i v e r o and v o n T s c h u d i ,206 the following
terra-cotta head [84], as a specimen of Peruvian art; and, in
order to show the affinity of Indian art all over America, we compare
it with a Mexican terra-cotta head [85] .207 The resemblance
in artistic treatment between both figures is most striking.
Tsehudi, with an exaggeration easily explicable in the discoverer
and commentator of monuments formerly unknown, compares his
Peruvian vase to any Etruscan work of pottery; but, even if we must
dissent from his view in respect to the workmanship of the head pubpasses
205 Nicaragua, New York, 1852—No. 81, fromi,, p. 302, “ Idol from Momotombita,”—No.
82, from ii., p. 62, “ Idols at Zapatero”—No. 83, ii., p. 52, same sculptures.
206 Antigüedades Peruanas, Vienna, 4to., 1851, Atlas, lamina ix.—head on a vase.
207 Antiquités Mexicaines, 2nde Expédition, pi. xxiv. ñg. 71, p. 20.
A R T OF A M E R I C A N N A T I O N S . 187
lished by him, we may admit the high proficiency of Peruvian art,
Fig. 84. Fig. 85.
M e x ic a n t e r r a - cot ta .
when we behold two most exquisite
terra-cotta heads of the British Museum;
which, according to the label
on them, were found in the neigh-
P e r c v ia n V a s e . borhood of Lake Titicaca. Both
of them are here edited for the first
time. The male head [86] compares advantageously with works
of Egyptian or Etruscan artisanship, whilst preserving the character
of the Indian race; and the female head [87], with its artificial
Fig. 86. Fig. 87.
P e r u v ia n M a l e .
P e r u v ia n F em a l e .
deformity of the skull, gives us the highest idea of the artistical
endowments of the Aymaras.
These few specimens of the indigenous ante-Columbian art of
America show sufficiently the constancy of the Indian type—as preserved
now in the very geographical province whence each relic has