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Pre-Columbian Tarascan Miniature Bowl, Michoacan browse these categories for related items... Directory: Archives:Regional Art:Americas:Pre Columbian: Pre 1492: Item # 641612
Janus Antiquities By Appointment New Jersey (330) 612-3957 Guest Book SOLD |
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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 precise use of these vessels remains unknown. Tarascan fine ceramics were not mass-produced, which makes it difficult to find exact parallels, particularly given that so few modern, accurate references for this culture exist. However, Pollard's "Tariacuri's Legacy: The Prehisphanic Tarascan State," Appendix 2 has a rough typology of these miniature tripod bowls. This example seems to have characteristics of both type F and J.
The iconography of this bowl is interesting. Mountjoy's (1987) study of petroglyphs in the region suggested that these spiral designs symbolize the eye or face of the god Curicaueri. Curicaueri was the patron deity of the Tarascan state, who was associated with the sun, fire, blood, and smoke. Importantly, he was worshipped in four different manifestations: as fire god, as sun god, as warrior god, and as tribal god (with the Tarascan king as his earthly form). Accordingly, I think it is very plausible that the four linked spirals on this bowl are meant to symbolize the four forms of Curicaueri. The Tarascan state developed in the Late Postclassic and Protohistoric periods of West Mexico, ca. 1300 A.D. through the Spanish invasion. They were the principal opponents of their Aztec neighbors, whose empire was immediately to the east of the Tarascan state. Their administrative capital was Tzintzuntzan, "the place where the hummingbirds are," a massive city of 40,000 elite occupants when Cortes arrived. The Tarascan are an anomaly in Pre-Columbian Mexico, with a unique language unrelated to any of their neighbors and the most advanced metallurgy in Central America. A recent re-emergence of interest in the region will hopefully lead to more answers about this culture and the objects it produced. AGE: 1400-1500 A.D. CONDITION: Intact and in excellent condition. A superb example of a very uncommon type of pottery. DIMENSIONS: 2.25" wide and 1.1" tall (5.72 cm x 2.79 cm) -- a little gem! |
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