Description
From the first millennium B.C. until the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, artists from across the ancient Americas created small-scale architectural effigies to be placed in the tombs of important individuals. These works in stone, ceramic, wood, and metal range from highly abstracted, minimalist representations of temples and houses to elaborate complexes populated with figures, conveying a rich sense of ancient ritual and daily life. Although described as models, these effigies were created not so much as reflections or prototypes of existing structures, but rather as critical, conceptual components of funerary practice and beliefs about an afterlife.



![Make It New: Abstract Painting from the National Gallery of Art, 19501975 [Paperback] Cooper, Harry; Breslin, David and Jolly, Matt](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/61i1k-PWaAL._SY522_-1-300x450.jpg)
![Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes from the Prado [Hardcover] Loughman, Thomas J.; Morris, Kathleen M.; Yeager-Crasselt, Lara; Burke, Jill and Portús, Javier](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/61GM3dFcJJL._SY425_-1-300x425.jpg)
![Grand Design: Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Renaissance Tapestry (Metropolitan Museum of Art (Hardcover)) [Hardcover] Cleland, Elizabeth](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/71eoIqSeqpL._SY466_-1-300x450.jpg)
![Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes [Paperback] Ebbinghaus, Susanne; Anderson, Lisa; Bewer, Francesca G.; Bielfeldt, Ruth; Eremin, Katherine; Hemingway, Seán; Lie, Henry; Mattusch, Carol C.; Riederer, Josef and Staehli, Adrian](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/516k-q2VTKL._SY385_-1.jpg)
![The Wyvern Collection: Medieval and Later Ivory Carvings and Small Sculpture [Hardcover] Williamson, Paul](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/61YR4fz0JsL._SY466_-1-300x450.jpg)
![In the Courts of Religious Ladies: Art, Vision, and Pleasure in Italian Renaissance Convents [Hardcover] Periti, Giancarla](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/71cbGJd7edL._SY342_-1.jpg)
![George Inness and the Visionary Landscape [Hardcover] Bell, Adrienne Baxter](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/615PhhKthsL._SY342_-1.jpg)

![Faces of America: Potraits of the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1770-1940 [Paperback] Levy, Sophie and Elizabeth Kennedy](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/91-yhc65rL._SY342_-1.jpg)
![Wish You Were Here: The Art of Adventure [Paperback] Cathleen Chaffee; David Carrier; Michael Nerlich; Bas Jan Ader; Alex Baker; Becket Bowes; Lordy Rodriguez; Amy Cutler and Christoph Fink](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A1Als5SnL._SY466_-1-300x450.jpg)
![The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries [Hardcover] Ibarra, Miguel Ángel de Bunes; La Rocca, Donald J.; Rodrigues, Dalila and Wit, Yvan Maes De](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/61MXaQLIMBL._SY466_-1-300x450.jpg)