Cocle Pottery Polychrome Zoomorphic Vessel

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Ancient / Ethnographic From Around The World

By Artemis Gallery

Nov 8, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-11-08 10:00:00 2018-11-08 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient / Ethnographic From Around The World https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-from-around-the-world-3598
Ancient art from Egypt, Greece, Italy and the Near East, as well as Asian, Pre-Columbian, Native American, African / Tribal / Oceanic, Spanish Colonial, Russian Icons, Fine art, much more! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Panama, Gran Cocle, ca. 800 to 1000 CE. A wonderful polychrome terracotta hunchback or transitioning birdman effigy vessel of a double-tiered bulbous, round-bottomed form, painted in vibrant hues of red, purple, black, and cream - the purple indicative of the Macaracas style. The upper section depicts the subject's head with an expressive visage comprised of coffee bean eyes, a pointy nose, and wide grin. An inverted purple T mask, tattoo, or face paint covers his central forehead and eyes. Red pigment extends his smile; spiral motifs swirl across the remainder of his forehead, and additional sinuous motifs in red, purple, cream, and black adorn the back of the head. The round-bottomed body below presents a hunchback form with painted stylized hands positioned over his chest and upraised knees and feet. Four bird-headed saurians adorn his back. Any additional space is occupied by mesmerizing swirling and geometric motifs. Size: 5.5" in diameter x 5.875" H (14 cm x 14.9 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)
  
  Provenance: ex-private Young collection, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; ex-private Thorpe collection, Florida, USA
  
  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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  #137864

  Condition

  Expertly repaired and restored from a few large pieces - very difficult to discern any break lines. Normal surface wear with areas of pigment loss here and there, but much is preserved. Nice scattered mineral deposits.
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