Cocle Polychrome Jar w/ Saurian Effigies

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 21, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-02-21 10:00:00 2019-02-21 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-3858
An important one-day auction featuring museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Far East / Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal, Oceanic, Native American, Spanish Colonial, Russian, Fossils, Ancient Jewelry, Fine Art, so much more! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Central America, Panama, Gran Cocle, ca. 600 to 1000 CE. A beautiful pottery jar defined by a round but stable base, a globular body with a slightly protruding midsection, a sloping shoulder, a cylindrical neck, and a discoid rim. The cream-slipped body is decorated with dense polychrome motifs in red, purple, and black hues - the purple indicative of the Conte/Macaracas style. Segments of red and purple alternate with white atop the rim and are encircled with thin black lines, and the neck exhibits undulating and spiraling motifs above collars of red and purple. The body boasts five highly-stylized saurian creatures with ovoid eyes, serpentine bodies, flared nostrils, and sinuous tails, all outlined in black. To the ancient Panamanians, these exquisitely painted motifs were imbued with extremely powerful symbolism and would have conjured a known mythic or shamanic being. A wonderful example of fine Panamanian pottery! Size: 8.75" Diameter x 8.2" H (22.2 cm x 20.8 cm).
  
  According to scholar Samuel Kirkland Lothrop, "The Gran Cocle culture is a Pre-Columbian archaeological culture that gets its name from the area from which it was based, the now present-day Cocle province of Panama. The Gran Cocle term applies to a loosely studied group of Native American sub-cultures in this region, identified by their pottery styles. The overall period spans a time from 150 B.C. to the end in the 16th century A.D. upon Spanish contact. The most ancient culture is the La Mula period from 150 B.C. to 300 A.D. The La Mula and later Monagrillo and Tonosí pottery styles are identified by their the use of three paint colors which were black, red and white (or cream). The later Cubitá style saw the emergence of the use of four colors. The styles of Conte, Macaracas and Joaquín added purple to their palette and this hue ranged from grayish tones to red purple. The use of purple disappeared in the subsequent styles of Parita and El Altillo and the paint style reverted back to the use of three colors. Most notable in the artistic renderings are the overt use of geometric designs." (For more information, see Armand Labbe, "Guardians of The Life Stream: Shamans, Art and Power in Prehispanic Central Panama" - Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, University of Washington Press, 1995.)
  
  For a stylistically-similar example, please see: Labbe, Armand J. "Guardians of the Life Stream: Shamans, Art and Power in Prehispanic Central Panama." The University of Washington Press, 1995, p. 94, fig. 97.
  
  Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection; ex-Dennis Pemberton collection, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; ex-collection of Wallace Crawford
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #143789

  Condition

  Repair to area of rim and upper neck with resurfacing and overpainting along break lines. Minor nicks to rim, body, and base, with fading to some areas of original pigmentation, and light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits and light manganese blooms throughout. Old inventory labels on base.
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