Southwestern USA, east central Arizona, Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi), ca. 1275 to 1325 CE. A really fantastic bowl with bright colors that pop of the Mogollon Pinedale Black-on-Red Polychrome type. The interior has triangular and swirling geometric shapes and very bold black lines, some emphasized by narrow white outlines. The exterior here is the real star - it is ringed with large black suns, with straight lines providing further detail, aside from a single black circle with a white ring. This looks to us like evidence for the observation of a total solar eclipse. The one closest in date for this region was October 17, 1259; perhaps the artist had a memory of it and chose to depict it here. A solar eclipse would then, as today, have been an auspicious time, especially for a society we know was astronomically conscious. For example, we know of Ancestral Puebloan sun-related artwork from rock art near Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, where strong circumstantial evidence suggests that the artist or artists drew a supernova known to have occurred in late June, 1054 CE. This drawing includes what looks like the Sun, with similar lines drawn from a circle. Size: 8" W x 4.6" H (20.3 cm x 11.7 cm)

Provenance: Ex - Prominent LA County collector who acquired these prior to 2000, Ex Arte Primitivo

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