Photographer: Andrea Blumtritt | Rights management: Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 4.0 International
Small, bimorph figure with a round opening on the belly. The hollow, upright object is decorated with carvings and notches. The design concept is clearly based on the moulding of copper-gold objects. The sculpture has been smoothed, sanded, primed and polished. Its base coat is partially eroded. The object has shoulder and head fractures. The monochrome ceramic has a brown-red base colour. The sculpture depicts a feline predator standing on its hind legs. There are meandering or concentric engravings on the arms, legs and back. The figure's paws have notched decorations. Two(?) opposing snake bodies hang down from the back of the object's head, which can also be interpreted as a two-headed creature. Similar figurines were produced in the Diquís region as copper-gold alloys. They possibly symbolised the magical abilities of shamans. According to MacCurdy (1911): chocolate incised ware. According to Lothrop 1926: chocolate ware. According to Haberland (1959): brown incised ware. Cultural significance: supra-regional type. Some of the group's decorations imitate the engraved friezes on the cat-like rubbing tables found in the Central Highlands and the Diquís region. (Künne 2004)
