Lot 100D
Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast of Mexico, Veracruz culture, ca. 500 to 700 CE. A delightful ceramic vessel in the form of a cormorant, seated, with its wings outstretched and its long, distinctive beak portrayed with a bulge at its tip. A huge crest rises from the bird's large head above two expressive, carefully rendered eyes. The bird's body is squat, with its wings extended to either side but stylized to be short, rectangular panels with molded decoration on their upturned faces. This molded decoration forms abstract scenes, perhaps stories from mythology. A wide, semi-circular opening forms a spout at the bird's tail, while long-clawed feet project forward from underneath the body in the front. Size: 8.25" L x 6.25" W x 6.7" H (21 cm x 15.9 cm x 17 cm); 8.15" H (20.7 cm) on included custom stand.
The cormorant, an aquatic bird native to the Gulf Coast of Mexico, is a frequent subject of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican art. The bird has several qualities that ancient people may have found striking: when they are in the water, their heads and necks look like dark serpents, because their light-colored lower bodies ride below the water line; they also grow large crests, like the one depicted here, only during the mating season, dramatically altering their appearance. Veracruz cosmology is not as well known as that of the Maya and Aztecs, so the bird's symbolic meaning is not clear, but we do know that the creation myth of the Maya city of Palenque included a mother of the gods who was a Lady Cormorant named Muwaan Mat. This bird's sculpture, with its decorated wings, indicates that it portrays a powerful, magical creature.
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection
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#131232
- Condition: Beak, crest, wings, spout, and neck are repaired and restored, with repairs generally difficult to see (although the spout repair is visible from the interior). Small losses on the wing surfaces. Manganese deposits on much of the surface. Excellent preservation of detail.
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