Lot 70A
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, Protoclassic period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A huge, hand-built pottery olla with a wide, rounded base, curving walls, smooth shoulders, a deep interior cavity, and a squat neck with a flared rim. Noteworthy to this highly-burnished vessel are the eight abstract anthropomorphic faces spaced equidistantly around the midsection of the body, each displaying circular eyes, protruding noses, miniscule mouths, puffy cheeks, and mounded foreheads. Covered in a deep vermilion slip, this is a fabulous example of high-quality shaft tomb pottery! Size: 11" W x 7.875" H (27.9 cm x 20 cm).
Colima, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was during this time part of the shaft tomb culture, along with neighbors to the north in Jalisco and Nayarit. In this culture, the deceased were buried down shafts - ranging from 3 to 20 meters deep - that were dug vertically or near vertically through the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region. The base of the shaft would open into one or more horizontal chambers with a low ceiling. These shafts were almost always dug beneath a dwelling, probably a family home, and seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. Vessels like this one were placed in the tombs in order to hold offerings.
Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection; ex-collection of Alan Davis, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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#138149
- Condition: Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, very minor nicks to rim and some faces, with fading to some faces and areas of coloration, otherwise intact and excellent. Nice earthen and mineral deposits and light encrustations throughout. Several small, thin felt pads on base for stabilization.
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