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Animal figure

Tripartite figurine vessel in the shape of a four-legged turtle carrying a deep bowl with a round mouth on its back. The bowl is connected to the figure's head by a strap handle below the rim. There are four elongated, narrow openings on the hollow figure. The object has been smoothed, sanded, primed and polished on both sides. Its exterior is painted in polychrome. The primer and paint are partially eroded. The outside of the ceramic has a white-yellowish base colour, which was painted red, orange and black-brown. On the body of the figure there are pictorial fields with geometric motifs (scales?). The bowl is decorated on both sides with a black-brown band around the edge. Two vertical horizontal bands run along its outer wall. Below them is a deep frieze that appears to imitate the motifs of the tortoise shell. The inside of the object was primed in red. According to Lothrop 1926: highland polychrome ware. Cultural significance: the type was produced exclusively in the south of the Gran Nicoya region and traded to the Central Highlands and the Atlantic region of Costa Rica. The pottery is known both from burials and from settlement contexts. It was often associated with the Altiplano Policromo group (1350-800d.C.). (Künne 2004)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum
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Cataloguing data

Object type
Animal figure
Dimensions
Mündung: 8,9 cm
Objektmaß: 9,3 x 10 x 16,1 cm
Wandstärke: 0,49 cm
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 41110

Provenance and sources

when
Policromo Medio (800 - 1350)
where
Costa Rica
Guanacaste [Provinz]
Santa Cruz [Kanton]
Santa Bárbara [Ort]

who
Lehmann, Walter - Collectors

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