Lot 201
North America, Southwestern United States, New Mexico, Mimbres Valley, ca. 950 to 1200 CE. A beautiful hand-built pottery bowl decorated with an enigmatic creature that might represent a feline or racoon-like animal, painted in the center of the broad basin. The vessel rests on a rounded but stable base, the entire exterior surface is unpainted, and the plain hemispherical walls exhibit light gray firing clouds. The interior is slipped in white and solid, concentric bands of red-orange pigment and stepped geometric shapes adorn the upper sides. The kill hole is placed in the center of the stylized animal's body- perhaps this is a fierce felid such as a puma or a mischievous coati- as both animals were native and known to peoples of the southwest. The creature has a lengthy tail, perked ears, and interior motif of interlocking lines - a bold and charming form! Size: 10" Diameter x 4.5" H (25.4 cm x 11.4 cm)
The Mimbres people occupied the mountain and river valleys of southwestern New Mexico; the name we know them by is from the Spanish word for the willows that grew alongside the river valleys. The artists responsible for creating pottery vessels like this were women, and the remains of many Mimbres women have been found in burial sites accompanied by pottery making tools.
This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full printed and bound report is available to the buyer upon request.
Provenance: private Niwot, Colorado, USA collection
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#172953
- Condition: Restoration to center kill hole area and overpainting to animal body. Hairline fissure radiating from kill hole to rim. TL hole near exterior base and second TL hole on exterior rim. Overall beautiful preservation of motifs and light firing clouds.
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