Description:

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. Unusual pottery incensario - a vessel used to burn copal releasing smoke to the gods of the sky. Circular olla-shaped vessel with 10 vent holes, snake slithering along the walls of the olla and twin snakes joined at midbody supporting the vessel upon their backs. Size: 8" W x 8.5" H (20.3 cm x 21.6 cm)

Incense played a major role in religious practice in ancient Mexico, from the Olmec onward. Many tombs are outfitted with incensarios and the items also seem to have been used in ceremonies by the living. The incense was made from copal, tree resin from the torchwood tree. By burning copal, Mesoamerican priests made an offering to the gods - for example, during an Aztec ceremony for the god Huitzilopochtli, the hummingbird-formed god of war, priests hoped that their prayers would be carried upward along with the wafting smoke and scent.

Provenance: ex-Stein collection, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, acquired August 30, 2006; ex-Artemis Gallery; ex-Allan L. Long collection, New York, New York, USA

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#164261

  • Condition: Rim repaired from 3 pieces, body and snakes remarkably intact with wonderful root-marked surface and liberal manganese deposits.

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June 10, 2021 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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