Lot 175A
Pre-Columbian, Central America, Panama, Gran Cocle, Macaracas type, ca. 800 to 1000 CE. A hand-built pottery pedestal dish known as a frutera, embellished with dense linear and geometric motifs in hues of black, red, and a faded purple hue. Within the tondo of the stripe-rimmed plate is an incredibly abstract figure - perhaps a hybrid of animals - with a dramatically curving body and enormous talons lining both the hands and feet. The creature stands upright like a human and has a double headed appearance with a bird beak at one end and elongated snout and teeth. One might experience pareidolia when looking at each element of the pattern! Although faded, the purple hue is indicative of the Macaracas style while the animal may denote a protective or shamanic motif! Size: 9.125" Diameter x 8.75" H (23.2 cm x 22.2 cm)
According to scholar Samuel Kirkland Lothrop, "The Gran Cocle culture is a Pre-Columbian archaeological culture that gets its name from the area from which it was based, the now present-day Cocle province of Panama. The Gran Cocle term applies to a loosely studied group of Native American sub-cultures in this region, identified by their pottery styles. The overall period spans a time from 150 B.C. to the end in the 16th century A.D. upon Spanish contact. The most ancient culture is the La Mula period from 150 B.C. to 300 A.D. The La Mula and later Monagrillo and Tonosi pottery styles are identified by their use of three paint colors which were black, red and white (or cream). The later Cubita style saw the emergence of the use of four colors. The styles of Conte, Macaracas and Joaquín added purple to their palette and this hue ranged from grayish tones to red purple. The use of purple disappeared in the subsequent styles of Parita and El Altillo and the paint style reverted to the use of three colors. Most notable in the artistic renderings are the overt use of geometric designs." (For more information, see Armand Labbe, "Guardians of The Life Stream: Shamans, Art and Power in Prehispanic Central Panama." Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, University of Washington Press, 1995)
Provenance: private Charlotte, North Carolina, USA collection; ex-Arte Xibalba, Osprey, Florida, USA; ex-Thema Bull estate, who excavated it in the 1950s
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#177015
- Condition: Professionally repaired and restored from several pieces. Infill with new material and overpainting on bowl neck and foot. Foot rim is restored with new material. Fading to pigments but motifs are discernable. Stable hairline fissures on base rim. Scattered manganese deposits.
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