Ovaloid, four-legged jug with a flowing neck base and slightly overhanging rim. The body has two opposite, hollow head protomes with a neck base and small openings. The short legs have small, round openings and rattle beads. The object has been smoothed, slurried and primed on both sides. Its exterior is polychrome painted and polished. The painting is slightly eroded. One leg and one protome are completely fragmented. The pottery has a white-yellowish base colour, which was painted red-orange and black-brown on the outside of the vessel. There are red-orange bands around the neck of the vessel and on the legs, which have black-brown dots. The body is decorated with two opposing oval fields. They appear to represent the fur pattern of a cat of prey. Two cat-like head protomes with the base of the neck appear in the empty fields. They have black-brown spots that also imitate the fur pattern of a cat of prey. Irregular traces of a white-yellowish primer are visible on the inside of the pottery. According to Bransford (1881), the object belongs to the Sta. Helena ware. Lothrop (1926) discusses the same group under his Nicoya 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 manifested 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. (Künne 2004)