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Clay vessel

Two-part vessel consisting of a horizontal, bean-shaped body and an attached bowl. The base of the bowl is closed. The hollow, bean-shaped object component has sculptural applications. The ceramic was smoothed, slurried and primed on both sides. The outside is painted in polychrome. The primer and paint are partially eroded. The object has several fractures. The pottery has a salmon-coloured undercoat, which was painted red-orange and black-brown on the outside of the object. There is a red band around the rim of the bowl. The inside of the vessel was painted red. Below the base of the bowl is a frieze with geometric motifs imitating textile or wickerwork. Lothrop (1926) interprets the same depictions as plumed serpent, type H. At both ends of the bean-shaped body appear painted and superimposed facial representations, possibly symbolising a feline creature. Cultural significance: the type is known both from burials and from settlement contexts. Its objects are characterised above all by their salmon-coloured ground. The group was mainly documented in the valley of the Río Tempisque and only rarely occurs north of Bagaces (Costa Rica). In the Gran Nicoya region, there was a long indigenous tradition of facial representations. Attached cat-like faces can already be found on the red, brushed wares of the Policromo Medio (1350-800d.C.). (Künne 2004)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
crock
Dimensions
Wandstärke: 0,85 cm
Height: 8,8 cm
Depth: 18,6 cm
Width: 6,8 cm
Diameter: 6,3 cm
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 41242

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    when
    Policromo Medio (800 - 1350)
    where
    Costa Rica
    Guanacaste
    Santa Cruz
    Santa Bárbara
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    American Archaeology

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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