Female Figure. Culture: Tlatilco. Dimensions: H. 5 in. (12.5 cm). Date: 12th-9th century B.C..This solid, hand-modeled ceramic figurine is buff in color and painted with a red pigment. It is adorned with nose and earplugs, coil necklace, ankle bands, and a tall, wrapped turban with a central ornament. The arms are short and extended forward, while the legs are set apart with the toes pointing downward. Traces of face and body paint are still apparent. Sculpted some three millennia ago in the Valley of Mexico, this figurine belongs to a group of ceramic effigies known collectively as the Tlatilco "pretty ladies." Depicting females with large heads, small waists, and prominent hips, these handheld sculptures present a fairly standardized body type and are typically fired to red, buff, or brown tones. As the popular embodiments of an ideal feminine form, the Tlatilco "pretty ladies" are part of a centuries-long tradition in which eccentricities and religious imagery predominate. Featuri