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Clay vessel

Small, bulbous jug with a domed base and short, overhanging neck. The body is decorated with a superimposed anthropomorphic face. The object has been smoothed on both sides, slurried, primed, painted and polished. The primer and paint are partially eroded. There are several fractures on the rim. The pottery has a white-yellowish base colour, which was painted red-orange, orange and black-brown on the outside of the vessel. On the body is a medium-sized, anthropomorphic face with a red mouth mask. It wears an attached lip plug (beard?) and a disc-shaped ear ornament. The opposite wall section is decorated with a frieze. It shows two feathered serpents, which Lothrop (1926) classifies as plumed serpent, type A. Two high and two low red-orange bands also appear on the body. The inside of the neck of the vessel is painted red-orange. Symbolic meaning: the pottery possibly imitates a trophy head. According to Lothrop 1926: highland polychrome ware. Cultural significance: the objects of the Papagayo Policromo group represent the beginning of polychrome painting on a white-yellowish ground in the Gran Nicoya region. The tradition lasted until the Policromo Tardío (1350-1520d.C.). Its decoration shows a strong Mesoamerican influence. This manifests itself in the replacement of lizard and bat themes with depictions of cats of prey and snakes. The ceramics served as supra-regional trade goods. The object under discussion combines the Central American tradition of sculptural facial representation with Central Mexican motifs and themes. (Künne 2004)

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Cataloguing data

Object type
crock
Dimensions
Height: 10,7 cm
Depth: 12,4 cm
Width: 12,4 cm
Diameter: 4,5 cm
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 44859

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    when
    Policromo Medio (800 - 1350)
    where
    Costa Rica
    Nicoya
    El Pedrero
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    American Archaeology

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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