The larger-than-life skeletal figure sits at the center of the U-shaped enclosure. The U-shaped ceremonial space above them combines architecture, terracotta sculpture, and painting to depict a narrative scene taking place in the court of a death god. Excavations at the Mound 2 funerary complex of El Zapotal in the 1970’s unearthed numerous sonrientes undisturbed in both primary and secondary burials of human remains. The discovery of numerous smiling figures in situ in a ceremonial context at the site of El Zapotal lends support to this interpretation. This very ambiguity of gender and age, together with the unusual triangular head shape, suggests that the smiling figures may represent spiritual entities rather than fully-human beings. Additionally, the squat proportions and relatively large heads of sonrientes could indicate that they represent either dwarfs or small children. The identification of sonrientes as women is challenged, however, by the fact that artists depict female figures in Veracruz art wearing a garment called a huipil that completely covers the upper body, or with their breasts clearly and naturalistically represented (see MMA 1978.412.73, 1979.206.574). Skirts, for example, are usually shown worn by women, although there are exceptions in Maya imagery (see MMA 1979.206.1063). In both dress and body representation, they do not fit easily into the norms of Mesoamerican representation of the gendered form. However, authors have disagreed on the gender of others, such as this one, that wear skirts. Sonrientes are most often referred to as male, and those depicted wearing loincloths or with exposed genitalia clearly are (see MMA 1979.206.561). Most smiling figures lack any information concerning their original context, limiting our understanding of their purpose and meaning. It is unclear whether they had served some ritual function and then been discarded, or were rendered useless and tossed aside because they had been damaged during firing. The first scientific excavations of smiling figures were conducted by Alfonso Medellín Zenil, in 1952, unearthing numerous figures and fragments from rubbish heaps within artificial mounds on the periphery of ceremonial centers. Below these, a row of ovoid shapes is bordered by plain bands above and a fringed band below. Large step-frets cover the top half of the skirt. Actual feathers or other decorative attachments may once have hung from round holes on both sides of the cap. A feather tassel above the forehead is repeated on each side. On the cap, a double-edged meander frames interlocking forms that resemble the Aztec glyph for motion ( olin). Here, a combination of low relief and incising is used to represent the details of both cap and skirt. Little cloth from Ancient Mesoamerica has survived, but the intricate designs depicted in artistic imagery testify to the importance of textiles and their motifs throughout the region. If used in ritual before interment, they may have been positioned similarly their backs placed against some form of support. In secondary burials at the Veracruz site of El Zapotal, several smiling figures were interred in a standing position, supported by human skulls and disarticulated bones. Sonrientes like this one are unable to stand on their own, and are too large to be held in the hand. In contrast, the back is entirely unadorned, suggesting that the figure was meant to be seen only from the front. All this detailing appears on the front of the figure. Additional traces of black paint on the skirt indicate a two-dimensional design once overlaid that in low relief. Thin red lines drawn below the eyes and the chin, and traces of the black tar paint often used in the region (see MMA 1978.412.59) on the chest represent body paint or tattooing. Musicians are depicted playing similar rattles in ceremonial scenes from both Veracruz and the Maya area. He raises his right hand as though in greeting and clutches a gourd rattle in his left. Nude from the waist up, this sonriente wears a cap and skirt covered in geometric patterns, circular earspools, and a beaded necklace and bracelet. The animated expression that is responsible for their name is surprising in Mesoamerican art, where emotion of any kind is rarely depicted. Smiling figures (called sonrientes in Spanish) are one of the most intriguing examples of Mesoamerican ceramic artistry, part of a long-standing tradition of hollow ceramic figures produced in south-central Veracruz throughout the Precolumbian period.
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