Pre-Columbian, Central America, Panama, Gran Cocle, ca. 600 to 1000 CE. A charming pottery vessel presenting a bulbous form and lipped rim sittin upon a rounded base. This piece hails from the Gran Cocle pre-Columbian kingdom of Central America or present-day Cocle province of Panama. Cocle ceramics include some of the most intriguing expressions of visual culture in pre-Hispanic Central America. Beyond its elegant form, this piece uses design as a visual language. Beautifully adorned in vibrant hues of beige, orange-red, violet, and black, the elegant jar is intricately painted with four trapezoidal panels featuring abstracted forms; two panels display a highly stylized zoomorph with lengthy claws, a curled nose, a huge mouth with pointed teeth, and a long tail, surrounded by maze-like designs, while the other two each exhibit a pair of saurian figures with spiraling bodies. To the ancient Panamanians, these exquisitely painted motifs would have conjured a known mythic or Shamanic being. Beneath the panels are two black bands underscoring the entire composition. The neck is painted orange and delineated with a complementary band of violet flanked by a pair of slender black striations at its base. Beyond the figural iconography, geometric design elements on Cocle pottery were imbued with powerful symbolism, usually referring to the gender constructs. Size: 6.75" in diameter x 5.25" H (17.1 cm x 13.3 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 Tonosi pottery styles are identified by their the use of three paint colors which were black, red and white (or cream). The later Cubita 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-Jamison Interior Design, acquired in 2006
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#163147
Condition
Three collection labels and small piece of felt on base. Repair to rim with restoration over break lines. Some minor pitting in areas. Otherwise, excellent with impressive pigments and lovely earthen deposits.