This is a lovely, boldly-colored tripod bowl produced by the Nayarit culture of ancient western Mexico. The cultures of Pre-Columbian west Mexico never built the massive archaeological structures of their eastern neighbors, but their ceramic tradition rivals anything contemporary in the Americas. Like many tripod bowls, this one originally would have had small pebbles or bits of clay in the legs so that it would rattle when shaken.
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This figure belongs to a group of solid, hand-sculpted figures from the Remojadas region of Pre-Columbian Veracruz, Mexico. Although it is difficult to say for sure in the absence of the full figure, the elaborate serpent headdress suggests the figure was originally a ceremonial dancer representing a warrior. Note the use of bitumen, a thick tar-like form of petroleum, that was used to highlight details like the dancer's mouth and the serpent's eyes.
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Although Pre-Columbian Costa Rica is best known for gold and jade, the Atlantic Highlands region in particular has a long history of carving substantial statues from the volcanic rock that is common in the region. This example depicts a kneeling figure making a large, box-shaped offering. Little is known about the particular cultures that inhabited the area; as many as 25 distinct cultural groups developed in Costa Rica with their own unique characteristics. However, the widespread practice of c ...click for details
This nice display piece is from a type of Pre-Columbian figure commonly known as "sonrientes" (smiling figures). They were produced by a Classic-period culture in what is today the central and northern portions of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Most sonriente figures were produced at Remojadas, an important ceramic center for the Veracruz culture.
Although these seemingly benign smiling figures have been f ...click for details
Conjoined bodies or double heads are common motifs in Pre-Columbian West Mexico thought to represent duality or transformation. This small jar shows two figures whose body forms a small, round jar with a narrow opening on top. The posture of the figures and the positioning of their hands is ambiguous, but it appears that each is trying to push away from the jar and break free from each other.
This Chupicuaro "pretty lady" figure is noteworthy in several respects. First, she is elaborately decorated with applique work of a higher quality than is typical for this type of figure. Second, and most importantly, she is quite large for the type (3.67" tall) and completely intact, a rarity for a type of figure most often plowed up with tools in the course of farming or construction!
The Cajamarca culture developed as a small independent state in the north highlands of Peru in wake of the Chavin horizon. Although little is known about this culture, the pottery of the region is distinct, with bold scrolls and geometric designs in brown, black, or red on cream-colored ground. Cajamarca remained independent until it was conquered by the Inca; in a twist of fate, Cajamarca was also the location of Pizarro's ambush of the Inca king Atahualpa in 1532, which marked the end of t ...click for details
This is a simple, but elegant bowl from the Guanacaste-Nicoya zone of Costa Rica. It was executed in the Castillo Incised/Engraved style, a rare ceramic style produced only in late Pre-Columbian Costa Rica. This style is characterized by thin-walled, brown earthenware vessels with a rich, burnished chocolate slip. Rough incisions were carved
into the bowl in geometric designs, into which white pigment was rubbed to provide contrast. For bowls in the same style, see numbers 116-117 in Katz, &quo ...click for details
This interesting little tripod bowl comes from the poorly understood Tarascan (or Purepecha) Empire, located in modern day Michoacan in West Mexico. These miniature tripod bowls appear to have been limited to elite burials, and were somehow a part of rituals associated with the official state religion practiced in the capital of Tzintzuntzan. Burial strata positions seem to conclusively date them to the Protohistoric period in Western Mexico (1400-1500 A.D.). However, to my knowledge, the precis ...click for details
This is a lovely grouping of pottery shards produced by the Mimbres people of the southwestern USA. All three of these pieces are attributable to the Classic Black-on-White type, Style III (including the pieces with red/brown pigment...it's not the most accurate term!) All three pieces were formerly parts of larger pottery objects, most likely bowls decorated with geometric patterns. See J.J. Brody's "Mimbres Painted Pottery" for further reading.
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