Tripod Bowl
Artist/Maker
Greater Nicoya
(Costa Rica)
Dateca. 1000-1550
Mediumpottery, slip paint and paint
DimensionsOverall: 4 1/2 x 7 1/4 x 8 1/8 in. (11.4 x 18.4 x 20.6 cm)
ClassificationsContainers
Credit LineGift of Seymour Rosenberg
Terms
Object number72.016.014
DescriptionThis tripod bowl was found in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, although it was most likely made further north in the Rivas area of modern Nicaragua. During ancient times these modern political boundaries were non-existent and this area was part of the same cultural sphere. A feline head surrounded by feathers appears on one side with a tail and bird head on the reverse. The four legs of the feline rest on two of the leg supports and are painted on the back. A feathered jaguar recalls the feathered coyotes and feathered serpents of central Mexican art, although supernatural creatures with overlapping attributes of multiple animals are common throughout the ancient Americas. The combination of modeling and paint, especially a blue pigment, is elaborate and characteristic of Vallejo-type polychromes. The blue paint required an additional, lower temperature firing, making the creation of these vessels more time intensive than most.On View
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