Description:

Pre-Columbian, Panama, Cocle, ca. 800 to 1000 CE. An outstanding example of Cocle pottery from ancient Panama adorned with a pair of relief serpents (lizard-like fantastical beasts) delineated with geometric skin patterns in orange, purple, and black on a beige ground, slithering around the globular body and extending off the body, the tongue of one snake wrapped around the vessel's tube spout which is adjoined to the flared rim. Size: 4.375" W x 4.5" H (11.1 cm x 11.4 cm)

Cocle ceramics include some of the most intriguing expressions of visual culture in Pre-Hispanic Central America. The indigenous ancients of Panama subscribed to the belief that the life force was dualistic, embodying both a male and female aspect. This vessel is decorated with a pair of highly abstracted serpent/lizard forms, connoting this binary aspect. To the ancient Panamanians, these exquisitely painted and modeled motifs would have conjured known mythic or Shamanic beings. Beyond its intriguing animorphic forms, this piece uses design as a visual language. The composition of this design is comprised of these fantastical life forms in combination with geometric bands of red and black along with purple accents. Geometric design elements such as these were imbued with powerful symbolism, although the cognitive intent of these has largely been forgotten or is no longer known. For more on the iconography of Cocle ceramics, see Lebbe's, "Guardians of the Life Stream".

Provenance: Ex Poway CA Collection

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#119364

  • Condition: Great manganese deposits. Multiple repairs and some restoration to spout and rim.

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January 19, 2017 7:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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