Small, round-bottomed bowl with retracting rim. The object has been smoothed, slurried and primed on both sides. Its exterior is polychrome painted and lightly polished. The primer and paint are partially fragmented. The pottery has a white-yellowish base colour, which was painted red-orange and black-brown on the outside of the vessel. On the wall there is a high, surrounding frieze. It shows two differently coloured wavy bands that are intertwined (guilloche motif). The oval loops are decorated with a dot. There are two red-orange bands running around the centre of the body. Irregular traces of a white-yellowish primer are visible on the inside of the pottery. A red-orange band runs along the rim. Symbolic meaning: the guilloche motif is often interpreted (Ferrero 1975: 405) as two serpent's bodies intertwined. According to Bransford 1881: Sta. Helena ware. After Lothrop 1926: Nicoya polychrome ware. Cultural significance: the Papagayo Policromo type group represents 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 manifested itself in the replacement of lizard and bat themes with depictions of cats of prey and snakes. The pottery served as a supra-regional commodity. (Künne 2004)