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.
![Swedish Wooden Toys (Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Des) [Paperback] Ogata, Amy F. and Weber, Susan](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/61pbgkyHjxL._SY385_-1-300x385.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)
![A Divine Light : Northern Renaissance Paintings From the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery [Paperback] Kennedy, Trinita & John Nolan](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/517Sf6pRpFL._SY342_-1.jpg)
![Frans Wildenhain 1950-75: Creative and Commercial American Ceramics at Mid-Century [Hardcover] Austin, Bruce A. and Profusely illustrated](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/71ZQm1MYQNL._SY425_-1-300x425.jpg)
![The Jewelry and Metalwork of Marie Zimmermann [Hardcover] Deborah Dependahl Waters; Kimberley Ahara; Bruce Barnes and Joseph Cunningham](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/51-271x8apL._SY425_-1-300x425.jpg)
![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)
![Huichol Painting: 300 Piece Puzzle [Misc. Supplies] Pomegranate Communications Inc.](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/51q6V2wsdWL-1-300x400.jpg)
![Traditional Chinese Painting Masterpieces of Art [Hardcover] Kwan, Sharmaine](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/812AXw-M7vL._SY342_-1-300x342.jpg)
![Drawing in Renaissance and Baroque Siena: 16Th- And 17Th-Century Drawings from Sienese Collections [Hardcover] Ciampolini, Marco; Ward-Perkins, Hugh and Georgia Museum of Art](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A1WUt3L6vRL._SY466_-1-300x450.jpg)
![Pictures, Patents, Monkeys, And More
On Collecting [Hardcover] Green, Gregory; Coles, Willie; Rath, Alan; Rosen, Kay; Antoni, Janine; Gonzalez-Torres, Felix; Marclay, Christian; Rhoades, Jason; Stockholder, Jessica; Wilson, Fred; Yuskavage, Lisa; Schaffner, Ingrid and Muensterberger, Werner](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/71oimCtsK4L._SY342_-1.jpg)
![Rico Lebrun: The Line of Passion - Drawings, Paintings, Prints and Sculpture [Paperback] Lebrun, Rico; Leonard Baskin; Michael T. Ricker](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/91eoawz7kCL._SY425_-1-300x425.jpg)
![LA PRESENCIA:Latin American Art in the United States [Paperback] (various authors)](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A1LIfbkQAkL._SY385_-1-300x385.jpg)
